


Heart of Steel

by xXdreameaterXx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Mafia AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-20 01:37:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 42,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7385734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXdreameaterXx/pseuds/xXdreameaterXx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Oswald is dead, killed by his enemies. The Doctor, his right hand man, sets out to find his daughter Clara to protect her from the same fate but once she realizes just what kind of business her father was in she is dead set on having her revenge. The Doctor is torn between protecting her from her father's enemies and giving her everything she wants because the little girl he once knew is now a strong willed and beautiful woman. Mafia AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatFuckerTucker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatFuckerTucker/gifts).



> It says Mafia AU even though, strictly speaking, David Oswald was not a Mafia boss in this story but rather the head of a criminal organisation.
> 
> I may add more characters and tags as the story progresses.
> 
> Although I haven't used archive warnings, there may be some violence. It's not going to be graphic, but we're dealing with criminals here.
> 
> The E-Rating is for later chapters.

David Oswald was dead. No matter how hard he tried, the reality of what was right in front of him just wouldn't sink in, and yet the Doctor could tell by the blood and the figure lying limply on the desk which they had only picked out together a few months ago. David Oswald, his boss, his _friend_ , was dead. Killed by his enemies. A part of him thought that he should have known and that he should have done something to prevent this. The Doctor was his right hand man and bodyguard, he should have known something like this would happen, especially after the past couple of days. His boss had acted differently of late. David Oswald had been one of the most powerful men in London, of course that was a position that came with enemies – a large number of them. Yet up until five minutes ago the Doctor had always thought they had been dealt with properly, the Oswald way. Dave must have known for days, he had taken precautions for _something_ but never in his life had the Doctor imagined that _something_ would be _this_.

Although he knew that it was fruitless the Doctor checked for a pulse, to be certain. None. He wouldn’t have thought. There were only a handful of people capable of doing this and they would have been thorough. But who?  
Looking around the Doctor found no clue, only a mess. The office had been turned upside down, papers scattered all over the place, drawers opened but he knew that, whoever had done this, they would never have found what they're looking for here and the knowledge filled the Doctor with relief but also a certain sense of dread. It wasn't over for him yet.  
For a brief moment the Doctor considered the possibility that there may be witnesses, yet he knew that that was nothing but a dream. Of course there weren't any. David Oswald, his friend, always working late, had been murdered at a time during which he was most vulnerable, alone and unprotected. Just over an hour ago he had sent the Doctor away to pick up a few items and it had taken him too long to find a petrol station that still sold them at this hour. Maybe that had been part of Dave's plan? The Doctor dreaded to think about the idea that his boss had sent him away for his own protection. David Oswald. Dead. The city had instantly become a more dangerous place, especially for him and especially for everyone associated with Dave. The Doctor remembered his promise well, the one he had made his boss 28 years ago, the one Dave had asked him to make again just days ago and he would give his life to keep it. There was nothing more he could do now. His secretary would find the body in the morning, she would call the police and they would begin their slow process of investigation. The longer the news of his death remained unknown the better for him. He had a promise to keep and he would not fail, not this time. Grief would have to wait.

* * *

“Turn up the volume!” Clara shouted at the DJ over the dancing masses. There was no other mansion around for miles and they could be as loud as they wanted. And Clara had every reason to celebrate. Today she had handed in her final thesis after weeks of working on it and soon she would be given her degree in return and the part of her life that was university would be over. And she would also be turning 29 in just a few hours.  
That was why Clara had invited everyone she knew to celebrate the occasion and turn this house upside down. As she glanced around Clara realized she might have gone a little overboard with the number of guests but she just shrugged it off and walked towards the bar to grab another drink.  
“I am so jealous!” her friend Susie shouted at her. Well, she wasn't really a friend but someone Clara used to hang out with after classes. Susie was fun and so were the other girls, but they weren't real friends.  
“Of what?” Clara asked back, struggling to raise her voice above the music without everyone else being able to follow their conversation.  
Susie laughed. “You've got this house to yourself! Seriously, you're _so_ lucky. I could either live in my parents' mansion _with them_ or in my tiny London flat on my own.”  
Clara chuckled. Susie's tiny London flat was a loft and it had cost her parents a couple million pounds. But it was true. Clara was lucky indeed. Her father was rich. Really, _really_ rich, as were the parents of most of her guests, and Clara had never wanted for anything in her life. She had a cosy flat in London and she had this house that was practically her own now since her father spent most of his time at his other home closer to his office. This mansion was for the occasional weekend or the even rarer holidays and Clara used it whenever she could.  
“Hey, let's go outside for a smoke,” Clara suggested, grabbed her drink and led the way onto the patio where a couple of people were already gathering in groups.  
She caught one of the guys looking at her and she vaguely remembered seeing him in her Shakespeare class, although she wasn't quite sure about that. He was cute and he smiled in her direction. Maybe she'd invite him to her bedroom later tonight when the party was beginning to bore her.  
“Seamus is checking you out,” Susie commented, nodding in the direction of the cute guy.  
Clara lit her cigarette and gave her friend a shrug. “I'm not really interested in pretty, young men,” she replied nonchalantly. 

They stood outside in silence for a long while and Clara once again felt the emptiness creep up on her that had been haunting her the entire day. She had no idea where it had come from. Maybe it was just a normal side effect of finishing her education and the lack of ideas as to where she would be going from here. Her family had money, so whatever she did Clara was sure to land on her feet.  
She inhaled deeply and blew the smoke out into the cool November air, admiring how the wind carried it away. Maybe she should ask her father for advice. They had always had a good relationship even though they hadn't seen much of each other in the past few years. He was always so busy and Clara had basically been left to herself after finishing school. Not that she had minded it so much back then, she had thoroughly enjoyed her freedom and used it in the best possible way. He wouldn't have approved of her friends or the parties at his home but right now Clara felt like she could use a few pointers.  
“Maybe I should become a teacher,” Clara mused and took another drag from her cigarette.  
Susie laughed at her. “A teacher? _You?_ Girl, you can do whatever the hell you like. You could travel around the world with your father's money!”  
“I travelled before I started university. I'll travel more. But I need something to do, I think.”  
“You know what I think?” she giggled, “The drink's getting to your head. A _teacher_? That's insane.”  
Susie threw the cigarette to the floor and stepped on it, extinguishing it with her high heel. Clara followed her example, knowing that the cleaning staff would take care of it tomorrow morning after the last guests had left. Before they headed inside Clara threw one last glance in Seamus' direction. Yeah, maybe she'd have some fun with him later.

Clara was determined to head towards the dance floor, pushing her way through the crowd but somehow the thoughts about her future wouldn't leave her alone. She had to do _something_ , but of course people like Susie would think teaching was below them, that was why Clara had no real friends in this room. Until she spotted _him_.  
It had been years since she had last seen the Doctor, probably around the time of her graduation and she had no idea what he was doing here but there was one thing Clara knew for certain. She was happy to see him. A smile spread over her face as she made her way through the crowd towards him while he was still looking around, obviously trying to find her. Her heart danced wildly inside her chest the closer she came and a tingling started to spread through her legs and arms when Clara realized she had missed him more than she would have thought. And he was so much better looking than in her memory with his tall, lean body and his adorable silver curls. Clara had had a crush on her father's chauffeur for as long as she could remember but she had still been a child when he had driven her to school after every break. Now that she was a woman he might view her as more than just his boss' daughter. And maybe, just maybe, it would be _him_ in her bedroom tonight instead of Seamus.  
“Doctor!” she called out excitedly as she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace and his body instantly stiffened under her touch. Clara giggled when she remembered that he had hated hugs even then when they had said goodbye before he had left her at her boarding school.  
She loosened her grip on him and smiled right into his handsome face. “It's so good to see you. How are you? What are you even doing here?” Clara asked, her voice almost flowing over with excitement but she didn't see the same sentiment on his face. He looked grim, maybe even sad.  
“Clara, we need to leave,” he said in a low but pressing manner, “Right now.”  
“What?” she huffed in confusion, “This is my birthday party. I can't leave. Come on, stay until midnight.”  
She smiled at him again, hoping to convince him to at least stay for a little while. She wanted to know why he was here and talk to him. And, yes, maybe something more than just talk but he seemed anything but in the mood for any of these things.  
“Something has happened,” the Doctor reached for her hand, holding on tight to her wrist, “You're in danger and I'm here to take you somewhere safe but we need to leave right away. Please, Clara, grab a coat and let's go. Do you have the key your father sent you?”  
The key. Clara had almost forgotten about it. Yesterday a private courier had arrived with a package from her father, containing several birthday gifts. One of which she had found a little odd. A key her father had claimed had belonged to the first flat he had shared with her mother. And he had asked her to wear it on her at all times.  
“Yes,” she breathed in reply, “I have it. Why? What's going on?”  
Something was wrong, Clara knew that now. She could tell by the look on his face.  
“I'll explain everything once we're in the car,” he said urgently, trying to pull her along but she resisted, “Clara, please, just trust me for now. Can you do that?”  
He looked around nervously as if he was only waiting for something to happen or someone else to show up. Whatever he was up to, wherever he planned to take her, they would be alone and that was something Clara had intended for them from the moment she had spotted the Doctor. As for the trust, she had known him all her life. There was no one she trusted more, maybe not even herself. So Clara gave him a soft nod and let the Doctor drag her along. She only had time to grab her purse and her jacket before he pulled her outside where she already spotted a car parked right in front of the house. The gardener would be furious about the ruts in the gravel path but that wasn't her concern.  
“Get in the car,” the Doctor almost bellowed as he darted towards the driver's seat.  
“Calm down! I'm getting in, aren't I?” Clara groaned in annoyance, opening the passenger door and climbing into the car.  
He turned the key in the ignition the second they were inside and the motor sprang to life right before she could hear the gravel being propelled in all directions under the tires when he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. They had just turned around and were heading towards the gate when Clara was starting to grow impatient.  
“Okay, time for you to tell me what has happened and where we're going!” she demanded but before the Doctor could even reply there was an earth shattering noise that ripped through the night and left her ears ringing. Their path was instantly illuminated with an orange glow and when Clara turned around she realized that the house had gone up in flames.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks for the first comments :) Did you all survive the cliffhanger? Good, then let's get on with it ;)

The Doctor was aware that Clara was frantically telling him to stop the car but all he did was accelerate the Mercedes a little more, pushing the pedal down until it wouldn't go further. They needed to get out of here as quickly as possible, away from here before the police arrived, away before anyone saw them. Heading west was probably the wisest option, the Doctor thought. London was north of them, the channel south. Maybe the channel was an option, too? Board a ferry and go to France?  
“We need to go back!” Clara's voice that he had so far blocked out successful got through to him again, “There were people inside! We need to call ambulances and the police!”  
The Doctor threw her a grim look in the darkness as he turned onto a different country road, away from the main traffic, and drove towards the edge of a forest.  
“Doctor, what the hell is happening? Where is my father?”  
Her voice was desperate and for a moment the Doctor had forgotten about the news he still had to deliver to her somehow. His heart sank when he thought about it. Suddenly Clara unbuckled her belt and at the last minute the Doctor was able to lock the doors before she could open the passenger door and, what had she even planned to do? Jump out of the moving car?  
“ _Tell me where you're taking me!_ ” Clara yelled at him just as they reached the forest and the Doctor pulled onto a small track, killing the lights of the car so they would remain undetected.  
When he turned off the engine their breathing was the only thing that could be heard and, looking at Clara in the dim moonlight, he could see how terrified she truly was despite her anger.  
“I'm sorry,” he whispered and howled in pain when Clara slapped him right across the face. His hand wandered to his cheek that was stinging after the impact.  
“What's going on? _Tell. Me. Now_ ,” she demanded angrily.  
The Doctor inhaled deeply, ignoring the pain she had inflicted on him. “Let's get out of the car. I'll tell you everything, I promise. I think we're safe here for the time being.”

After Clara had nodded wordlessly he unlocked the car doors again and he had half expected her to make a run for it. He wouldn't have blamed her. He would have caught her again, but he wouldn't have blamed her. Clara slipped into her jacket and walked around the car, settling against the hood for warmth while the Doctor was racking his brain for the right words. How could he tell her? How could he possibly tell her that her father was dead, murdered, and that everything she had believed about him had been nothing but a lie? Even her mother's death wasn't what she had always thought.  
“I'm waiting,” Clara said coldly and the Doctor noticed her shivering in the cold. He had to do it now.  
“I'm so sorry, Clara,” he half whispered, swallowing hard, “Your father is dead.”  
The words were out. The Doctor took a deep breath once he had spoken them but it didn't make him feel any better, especially when he looked at Clara and into her big, sad eyes that were so full of disbelief.  
“It happened just a few hours ago. He made me promise that if something should happen to him, that I would do everything in my power to keep you safe and that's what I will do. Clara, you have my word on that. I've been loyal to your father for over thirty years and now that loyalty is yours. You can trust me.”  
Clara did nothing but stare at him for a long moment, her body still shaking. “How?”  
He cleared his throat. “He was killed in his office. I found him when it was already too late and I'm sorry. I should-”  
“ _Killed?_ ” she asked in confusion, “Who would want to kill my father? He had no enemies, he didn't work any dangerous cases. Why? Who would do this?”  
He had to tell her. There was no other way. Even if it shattered her world.  
“Your father wasn't just a lawyer, that's just what he told you to protect you. He was the head of an organisation and he was good at it, really good. They chose him even before you were born, before he met your mother and he used his influence to make the city a safer place. He hated violence, you know that, but his enemies didn't. They thought he was too soft, that blackmail and intimidation alone wasn't enough to pursue their course and yet he was one of the most powerful men in London, maybe even the country.”  
“Who killed him?” Clara asked, her voice ice cold, “Who did this?”  
The Doctor gave a shrug. “I don't know. There is a handful of people who it could have been but we can't stick around until they catch the person. We need to move.”  
Her teeth were clattering and the Doctor stripped out of his coat to throw it around Clara's shoulders. She instantly wrapped it more tightly around her body for warmth.  
“What does this have to do with me? I'm no one. I didn't even know about this until you told me,” she argued, her voice losing some of its vigour.  
“You have the key he sent you. It's all a very long story and I'd prefer it if we were far, far away from here when the police arrives at your house. Whoever killed your father will have spies with the authorities. Your house blowing up wasn't a coincidence and right now let's just hope they assume you're dead and the longer they think that the further we can get away.”  
Clara nodded even though the Doctor knew she didn't even understand half of what was happening. She was in shock and she trusted him, he wouldn't let her down. _Couldn't_ let her down.

“There were over 100 people in the house,” Clara said weakly once the Doctor had started the engine again and was heading back to the main road.  
“I know,” he said gravely, “I'm sorry they got dragged into this. I'm sorry _you_ got dragged into this. It should never have happened and I feel like it's my fault.”  
“Why would it be your fault?”  
The Doctor smiled sadly, staring straight onto the road ahead. “I was your father's bodyguard and right hand man. I should have protected him.”  
“Then why didn't you?” the anger in her voice was back, it was faint but still there.  
“Your father sent me away. I think now that he knew what was going to happen and that he wanted me to look after you. Maybe I could have protected him, maybe not. We'll never know now.”  
The window on the passenger site opened and when he turned around he saw that Clara was lighting a cigarette and blowing the smoke out through the crack.  
“Do you _have_ to do that?” the Doctor asked sharply.  
Clara looked at him, a flicker of something in her eyes that he didn't quite recognize. He scoffed.  
“You were a girl last time I saw you,” the Doctor commented, “You had pigtails and a pink backpack last time I drove you to school. What happened?”  
Clara sighed, “I grew up. It's been ten years,” she replied and both their eyes fell onto the clock at the dashboard. It was three minutes past midnight, “Eleven.”  
“I'll get you a nice birthday present once we've found a safe place to stay,” he promised, “And I'm sorry.”  
“Where are you even taking me? Where are we going?” she suddenly asked, the tone of her voice changing again.  
The Doctor blew the air out between his teeth. “I, erm,” he hesitated, “I don't know.”  
To his surprise Clara chuckled. “You're a lousy bodyguard.”  
“I suppose you're right,” he replied before they both fell silent again.  
As they drove over quiet country roads, only occasionally seeing another car, the Doctor pondered her words. Clara Oswald had indeed grown up and he wasn't quite sure he liked that change about her. He had always been so fond of his boss' daughter, they had joked all the way to her boarding school every time he had driven her there after the summer holidays. Sometimes he had helped her with her physics homework, too. Clara had always been a bright and sweet child but now there was a woman sitting in the seat beside him and the Doctor could tell that her father's neglect in the past eleven years had taken a toll on her. He wouldn't go so far as to say she was a brat, but maybe she was just a little bit spoiled. All those years the Doctor had wondered what she was up to now and what she looked like, yet he hadn't quite expected this. He hadn't quite expected to find an adult. 

Clara fell asleep soon while he drove through the night, his weariness soon growing stronger as well and when the black sky was starting to take on a blueish hue he decided that it was time for them to rest. They were far way from London and the mansion. No one would know them here, so the Doctor pulled up at the parking space of a small town bed & breakfast. Gently he reached out to shake Clara awake and for a moment she looked like she had forgotten all about her father and being on the run.  
“I found a bed & breakfast,” the Doctor whispered, “We should ask for a room to get some rest.”  
Clara nodded and followed him outside until they stopped by the door. The Doctor was fully aware that it was late, or early, and that they would wake whoever ran this place but a woman answered the intercom about five minutes after he had rung the doorbell. He uttered an apology for disturbing her sleep and asked about the room.  
A middle aged woman in a flowery robe answered the door. “You want the room? _Now?_ ” she asked sleepily. Her eyes wandered from him to Clara in her skimpy party dress and his coat.  
“We've been driving all night. We'll pay extra for the disturbance,” the Doctor replied.  
The woman nodded and waved them inside. It was pleasantly warm within the house and a few seconds later the Doctor was handed a heavy key.  
“It's up the stairs and to your left. We'll talk about the money in the morning,” she croaked and already made her way back to where her own rooms probably were.  
“I'm sorry, but I was actually thinking about two rooms,” the Doctor threw in.  
The woman shrugged. “We only have the one. Take it or leave it.”  
“We'll take it,” Clara answered before he could. She sounded as tired as he felt and the Doctor didn't feel like protesting against her decision. The woman gave a nod in their direction before she left them on their own.

The room was small and cosy but unfortunately contained only one bed. A bed into which Clara sank almost instantly after she had kicked off her high heels and his jacket while the Doctor still considered his options. He would have taken he couch, but there was none. Maybe the floor would do for him?  
“Come to bed,” Clara prompted him wearily, “You look terrible.”  
“Thanks,” he scoffed. It seemed as if he had no choice but to share the bed with her. He unzipped his hoodie and drew out the gun that he had stuck behind his belt at his back. It was then that Clara's eyes widened.  
“You carry _a gun_?”  
The Doctor stared at it in disgust. He hated weapons and yet he knew he might need it. For her protection. Tomorrow they would have to make plans. Where to go. What to do. But right now his brain felt like pudding and he needed to get some rest.  
Wordlessly he sank down on the bed next to her and lay on his back, still clutching the gun in his right hand above his chest. They wouldn't find them here, would they?  
Clara turned off the lights next to him and silence fell over the room, the only sound remaining was their breathing. David Oswald was dead. It all came back to him now in the darkness. His lifeless body kept popping up in front of his inner eye and he had no idea how to stop thinking about it. The Doctor thought he had it bad, losing a friend, but how would Clara be feeling right now?  
“Can you put the gun away, please?” her voice was hardly a whisper next to him. She sounded so broken that it tugged at his heart. He placed the weapon on the bedside table and only an instant later Clara wrapped her arm around his chest and he could hear her quiet sobs as her tears started to seep through his shirt.  
Even though the Doctor was uncomfortable with touching he gently laid his arm around her when the reality of her father's death had finally hit her and she was crying mercilessly. She needed his comfort now, and if the Doctor was truly honest with himself, he kind of needed the same thing from her.  
“I'm going to keep you safe, whatever it takes,” he promised her, “I have a duty of care.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so, so much for the reviews! I was a little uncertain when I started this fic because it's rather action and story heavy and the romance (which is probably what you all wanna read about) is more kinda in the background so far, so it makes me very, very happy that you live this fic already :)

Clara was dreaming. She was still in her house, walking along the endless corridors, looking for her father but he was nowhere to be seen. In the back of her mind she knew that something had happened but she refused to believe it. Her father had to be somewhere.  
“Clara, you need to get up. We have things to do.”  
Someone was shaking her gently and slowly Clara woke from her dream to stare right into the Doctor's face. Her throat felt dry and her head was throbbing. She was thirsty, so thirsty and slowly she began to realize that last night hadn't been part of her dream. Her father really was dead and she was on the run with a man she hadn't seen in over 10 years.  
“I was already downstairs, clearing everything with the nice lady from last night. I brought back breakfast,” the Doctor explained kindly and nodded towards a tray filled with mugs and rolls and spreads.  
Slowly Clara sat up in bed, realizing that she was still in her party dress. She had to get a change of clothes but most of her dresses had been at the mansion. They had probably burned to cinder.  
“We have a lot of things to discuss,” the Doctor explained as he sat down next to her, putting the tray between the two of them and reached for one of the croissants while Clara instantly grabbed the glass of orange juice and almost emptied it in one go. She felt so dehydrated after crying herself to sleep the previous night.  
“You could start by asking me how I feel,” Clara replied grumpily, setting down the empty glass and crossing her arms in front of her chest.  
The Doctor instantly looked down at his own two feet. “I'm sorry,” he muttered, “How _are_ you feeling?”  
“Been better,” she grumbled before she came to look at him, “I still don't understand half of what is going on.”

He took a deep breath before he spoke, looking at her and obviously judging where he should start. Clara waited impatiently.  
“That key your father sent you a few days ago,” the Doctor went on to explain, pointing at the little metal thing dangling from her neck, “It's not the key to an apartment, it's the key to a bank deposit box. It's where your father kept everything and there are some people who would kill to get it.”  
“Why? What's in there?”  
“Dirt,” he said, “Dirt on every person your father ever blackmailed. Lists of people who are on his payroll, lists of his informants and spies, bank accounts, passports. Information. Whoever has access to it controls the entire organisation.”  
Clara reached for the key and admired it for a moment, the thoughts running wild inside her head. If _she_ had access, she could probably do whatever the hell she liked. She could take revenge. No, not if. She _did_ have access now.  
“Isn't that sort of thing done digitally these days?” Clara asked blatantly, “A deposit box seems a little old fashioned.”  
The Doctor granted her a smile. “It's also a lot safer. Computers can be hacked. There's always a genius smarter than the one you employ _if_ the one you employ is loyal to you at all and not paid by your enemies.”  
Clara remained silent for a while, still admiring the key she was holding between her fingers. If she took control over the organisation she could find out who killed her father. But that was a thought for later, not for while they were still on the run.  
“What do we do now?” Clara asked, looking straight at the Doctor who suddenly seemed uncomfortable. For a moment she thought he might not even have a plan at all.  
“I'm not entirely sure. I don't know who we can still trust,” he admitted, “I took some blank passports out of your father's safe and a credit card that's on a name unknown to the organisation. I might know someone who can prepare the passports for us.”  
“Who?” Clara demanded to know.  
He inhaled sharply. “Her name is Donna and she works at a small office in Leeds.”  
“Leeds?” her eyes widened. Clara only vaguely knew where they were right now but she could tell that it wasn't anywhere close to Leeds.  
“We need these fake papers, Clara,” the Doctor said urgently, “Even the bed  & breakfast host wanted to see my identification and I had to tell her that I had left everything at home. I paid her extra so she would let it pass. No one can know where we are.”  
Clara frowned at him. “And this Donna, is she trustworthy? Can we tell _her_?”  
Suddenly the Doctor buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Fuck, Clara, I don't know,” he breathed and he sounded more than a little desperate. The fact that he didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing was beginning to scare her. “It depends on who killed your father and what they know.”

So, the Doctor didn't have a plan and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere. It was then that Clara made a decision. She reached out and gently took him by the wrists, forcing the Doctor to look at her.  
“We need a plan. And yes, I can see that we also need the fake papers. So why don't we start with a list? A list of people who might be trustworthy.”  
The Doctor sighed and stared at her for a long moment before he eventually nodded. “Donna is a good person. I _think_ she can be trusted but she has a weakness. Her family doesn't have a lot of money, they barely get by. If they paid her I'm not sure she wouldn't sell us out.”  
“That sounds like a risk we'll just have to take. Who else?” Clara asked determinedly.  
“Well, not Missy. She's insane.”  
“Who is Missy?”  
The Doctor gave Clara a sad smile. “Missy was your father's last resort. She has rather. . . unorthodox methods. Methods your father didn't approve of unless he really needed her services.”  
Something about the way he said it made Clara chuckle. “She's an assassin, isn't she?”  
The Doctor simply nodded. “And then there's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. She's someone we can absolutely trust. She works at the MI5 and-”  
“The MI5?” Clara gasped, “My father was working with the intelligence service?”  
He threw Clara a dark glance. “They were working with each other. The MI5 let them be in exchange for information. Kate got into trouble more than just once for that and I wouldn't ask for her help unless we absolutely need it.”  
“Okay, so who else have we got?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “People I don't really want to put in danger.”

Clara took a deep breath, considering their options. The Doctor seemed just as clueless as she was, something that didn't really help her feel so very safe but somehow she still trusted him. Maybe it was because of their past, maybe because she had no other option than to trust him and maybe it was because he was with her right now although he could have gotten away on his own and still had come to her house to save her.  
“Thank you, by the way,” she said once she realized that she hadn't even thanked him for saving her life, “Without you I'd be dead by now.”  
The Doctor frowned. “How so?”  
“The exploding house?” Clara asked as if it should have been obvious.  
“Oh, that.”  
Clara leaned forward and placed her hand on his thigh, giving him a light smile. “We need to go shopping though. I can't walk around in this dress.”  
The Doctor flinched under her touch and quickly pulled away his leg. “After breakfast,” he said, clearing his throat.  
“Yes,” she confirmed, “After breakfast. We'll find a shopping centre on our way to Leeds. And I think you should teach me how to shoot that gun.”  
She nodded towards the weapon that was still lying on the bedside table and suddenly the Doctor seemed aghast.  
“Why would you want to know that?” he asked, obviously horrified.  
“To protect myself, of course. You said they're after the key, so I better make sure they don't get it.”  
While she finally reached for one of the croissants she noticed the Doctor nod out of the corner of her eye. He didn't have a plan yet, but Clara trusted him to come up with something very soon. And if not she would make a suggestion of her own, even though he might not like it so very much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so, sooooooooo much for the comments :)

The Doctor kept pacing the small corridor in front of the changing rooms impatiently, shifting the clothes he was holding over his arm to check his watch again. Clara had been in there for 30 minutes. He had already selected a handful of clothes twenty minutes ago, so what was taking her so damn long?  
“Is everything alright in there?” the Doctor asked, clearing his throat.  
“Yep, all good,” Clara replied, followed by the sound of a zip being closed before the curtain opened.  
“What is that?” the Doctor spat upon seeing her. The flowery dress she wore looked pretty but hardly practical.  
Clara frowned at him. “It's a dress. I trust you've seen one of those before. I like it,” a sudden smile appeared on her face as she turned around, making the skirt fly, “Do you?”  
He did, as a matter of fact. But that was hardly the point.  
“I really think you should pick a more practical outfit,” he remarked uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.  
When Clara looked up at him, her eyes growing bigger, his discomfort only grew for some reason. “I was gonna pick more than one outfit. I have trousers and shirts, too, look!”  
She pointed at a large pile of clothes lying over a chair that was framed by several pairs of shoes. Now he really needed to protest.  
“Clara, seriously,” he pointed at the boots, “You can't possibly walk in those.”  
Suddenly another, deeper frown appeared on Clara's face as her eyes dropped to the pile of clothes he carried over his arm. She nodded towards it. “And that's what you've chosen? A pair of pyjama bottoms to go with your magician's coat?”  
“These aren't pyjama bottoms,” the Doctor replied defensively, “At least they're practical.”  
“Yeah,” she giggled, “When you go to sleep. What happened to the velvet coat you used to wear? I liked that one.”  
“Times change. Now, come on,” he said urgently, ushering her back inside the changing room, “Pick a few outfits so we can leave.”  
Clara closed the curtain behind her and the Doctor was able to hear the sound of a zip again, followed by the rustling of fabric. The idea of Clara stripping out of her clothes behind the curtain briefly entered his mind, but he brushed the image aside as soon as it had come. Even though Clara had grown up to be a beautiful woman, she was still his dead boss's daughter and he had no business thinking about her like that. Then suddenly the sounds stopped.  
“Uhm, could you help me out here for a second?” Clara asked hesitantly, “I can't reach the zip.”  
The Doctor took a deep breath before he stepped into the tiny, stifling changing room and to his relief he found Clara fully clothed and wearing a grey jumper with a zip at her neck she truly couldn't possibly reach.  
“Wouldn't it be smarter to get clothes you can actually put on yourself?” he asked drily as he zipped her up.  
Clara admired herself in the mirror for a moment before she gave an approving nod. “I like this one. I'll take it. Unzip!”  
She turned her back towards him again and the Doctor opened it for her before he cleared his throat. “Listen, since this seems to be taking a while, how about we meet at the ice cream shop in an hour? Do you remember where that was?”  
Clara spun around to face him and after a moment she nodded in agreement, but something had changed about her. It was as if the light-heartedness had suddenly gone out of her.  
“Yeah, we can do that,” she forced a smile, “In fact, I was thinking of running a few more errands, too.”  
“And you'll be okay?” he asked, just to be sure.  
“Yes,” Clara nodded, smiling more earnestly now, “I'll be fine.”

Even though the Doctor didn't feel quite comfortable leaving her on her own he knew that Clara was a grown woman and whoever had killed her father couldn't possibly know they were here. So he decided that instead of pacing the floor in front of the changing rooms he could just as well run some other errands, buy a couple of basics and of course some food for the ride to Leeds when suddenly he passed a bookshop. It was then that he remembered that today was Clara's birthday.  
The Doctor stepped inside the bookshop and headed towards the shelf holding classic literature before he glanced around. He had no idea which one of those Clara had already read, probably all of them, but he _did_ remember her fondness for Jane Austen so the Doctor ended up choosing a complete collection of her novels.  
After having it gift-wrapped at the checkout he left the bookshop and went out of find the grocery shop. Maybe he would even come across a small birthday cake.

 

Clara was already waiting by the ice cream shop, carrying three bags full of clothes when he arrived there and the Doctor couldn't help but smile. There probably wasn't a single woman in this world who could resist the temptation of a credit card without limit. Yet she didn't look so very happy at all until she spotted him.  
“I got you a little something,” he said proudly as he held up a cupcake. It wasn't really a birthday cake, but it still made Clara's eyes light up when she saw it, “They had no candles, unfortunately.”  
“I thought you'd have forgotten by now,” she smiled at him until he also held the wrapped present in her direction, “That really wasn't necessary, you know?”  
Clara set her bags down and reached for her present, unwrapping it carefully until the title could be seen. Then she suddenly froze.  
“I love Jane Austen. I didn't think you'd remember,” Clara whispered almost absent-mindedly before she brought her hand to her face and wiped away a tear.  
The Doctor bent down immediately to be at eye level with her. She was crying and he had no idea what to do. “Hey, hey, hey,” he said gently, “What's the matter?”  
Oh God, what had he done?  
“Nothing,” she replied but an instant later flung her arms around him in a tight embrace, “I love it. Thank you so much.”  
With no idea what else to do he simply placed an arm around her and awkwardly patted her head. “Then why are you crying?”  
“Sorry, I'm an emotional mess. It's my dad. And the house. And everything.”  
Suddenly Clara struggled free from his embrace and cleared her throat before she looked at him, her eyes still watering. Nevertheless she forced a smile.  
“My dad used to take me to get ice cream on my birthday when I was kid. It was our tradition. Standing here, it feels a little odd,” she held up the book, “Thank you, the present is lovely. Jane Austen is my favourite and all the books I had were in the house. This is the best way to start a new collection.”  
“I'm sorry, Clara,” he said plainly, looking straight at her, “I'm sorry this is happening to you, you don't deserve that. You'll have your old life back, I promise. Your father left you more than enough money to start over. Just not here, not now. You need to keep a low profile until everything has calmed down.”  
For a moment Clara just stood there, clutching her book in her hands until finally she nodded.  
“So, Leeds?” she asked.  
“Yes,” the Doctor blew the air out between his teeth, “Leeds. I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about this.”  
Clara shrugged, giving him a sad smile. “We need the passports though.”  
“Leeds it is,” he said and bent down to pick up her shopping bags. For a moment Clara looked as if she was about to protest but didn't.  
“Could you do me a favour?” Clara asked him as they headed out of the shopping centre, “Can you tell me what exactly it was that my father did? I always thought he was a lawyer, now I wanna know what he was really doing.”  
“You have a right to know, I guess,” the Doctor replied. There was no point lying to Clara about it any longer. He could leave out the details that might put her in danger, but he could still tell her enough to understand, “And it's going to be a long ride to Leeds if we don't talk at all.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments :)))))
> 
> And I'm sorry.
> 
> No, actually, I'm not XD

Clara fastened the seatbelt and leaned back, feeling a lot more comfortable in her new jumper and trousers than she had in the party dress. At least these clothes allowed her to breathe properly and her feet had already started to hurt in those heels, too. She was silent as the Doctor started the engine and headed in the direction of the motorway. It was a four hour ride to Leeds, enough time for them to talk. She needed information. She needed to know because the thoughts about taking over her father's position wouldn't leave her. Clara was in possession of the key and the Doctor had said that whoever had access to the deposit box also controlled the organisation.  
The Doctor. Her eyes wandered over his figure sitting in the seat beside her, that look of concentration on his face as he drove. Clara hadn't seen him in 10 years and she dearly hoped that her trust wasn't based on her attraction to him alone. She knew that she needed him now. The Doctor was the man with the answers and without him she'd be dead already, but he didn't really seem to have a plan and it worried her. Clara hated depending on someone else more than anything, it always gave her that nagging feeling of not being in control.  
“So, my father's business,” she began carefully, glancing at his face to see his reaction. Nothing. No emotion.  
The Doctor took a deep breath. “Where to start?” he granted her a short smile before his eyes went back to the road, “The organisation has been around for much longer than your father and he was approached by the former boss when he was still studying law. He took over when the old man died, he was _chosen_.”  
“Why? Why him?”  
The Doctor shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe he saw something in your father, a talent, a certain character. That's how it works, the boss chooses his successor, unless of course something else happens.”  
Clara frowned at him. “And what do they do exactly?”  
“They manipulate,” he stated simply, “Everything. Everyone. If there's an election and they don't want a certain candidate to win something will happen. Either the candidate is blackmailed to resign or something comes to light that ruins his reputation. If there's a company to be sold and they don't like the buyer it's never going to happen. The organisation's net runs deep, very deep. Like I said, your father even worked with the MI5.”  
“But who decides this? Who makes the decision to act? It can hardly be a democracy,” Clara asked. She couldn't imagine one person having all that power, but she also couldn't imagine how else it might work.  
“Your father did. His contacts came to him with their plea and he decided whether to take the case or not. Of course there were people who thought blackmail and persuasion weren't the way to keep their targets under control. They wanted to eliminate them,” he explained gravely.  
“Like an assassin would?” Clara cocked an eyebrow, hoping the Doctor would catch her drift, “You said there was one in my father's employ?”  
Suddenly he shook his head. “No. I know Missy and she is a shadow player. She doesn't want the responsibilities that come with being the boss. The power, yes, but no one would accept her.”  
“Unless she blackmails them,” Clara suggested casually and for a long moment the Doctor remained quiet. She already considered saying something just to end the silence when finally he turned around to look at her, laughing.  
“You're very smart, Clara Oswald,” he said sincerely.  
“Didn't finish university for nothing.”  
Instantly his face lit up. “You did?” the Doctor asked, now sounding a lot more intrigued than he had before, “Congratulations. What are you going to do with your degree?”  
Clara exhaled sharply and stared straight on the road ahead. “Actually, I was going to ask my father for advice. I was thinking about becoming a teacher.”  
The Doctor shrugged. “That's a good choice. I think it would suit you.”

 

They talked a lot about her options and unlike her party mates the Doctor actually encouraged her to pursue the idea of becoming a teacher, saying he would pity any rebelling student. He was sweet, like he always had been, something that Clara had almost forgotten about in those ten years. And handsome. No matter how hard she tried her thoughts kept wandering back to that and she caught herself smiling at him more than just once. In the early afternoon they stopped at a small motorway restaurant, filled up the fuel tank and had lunch together before they continued their way. The Doctor refused her offer to drive for a bit if he felt tired and so she settled in the passenger seat again and started reading _Persuasion_. After a four and a half hour ride the Doctor finally stopped the car in front of a small, quite shabby looking office.  
“We're here,” he announced grimly and when she looked at him she noticed that he was biting his thumb.  
“The office? Why? You want that hand written novel of yours typed into the computer?” Clara chuckled but he didn't seem up for a laugh.  
“This is what Donna does as a daytime job. The forging of papers can hardly be an official business, can it?”  
He leaned back in his seat and Clara heard him breathe in deeply. There was a reason he was hesitating, but the Doctor didn't want to share it with her.  
“Then what are we waiting for?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper.  
“Right,” he said suddenly and opened the door of the car. 

If she didn't want to fall behind Clara had no other choice but to follow him to the office and inside. Immediately upon entering they were both greeted by a sharp voice.  
“We're closed,” the redhead said, her voice heavy with annoyance.  
The Doctor snorted next to her. “Even for an old friend?”  
His voice made the woman look up from her paperwork right before she glanced at Clara and the realisation of who she was seemed to cross over her face. At least that was what Clara took it for.  
“What do you want this time?” Donna asked, placing her pencil neatly next to her keyboard.  
The Doctor drew the blank passports out of his pocket and handed them over to Donna. She took them only reluctantly, probably already guessing what she was do to with them.  
“Make them out to John Smith and Clara Smith,” he ordered her.  
Donna took a deep breath before she sighed and rose from her chair. After she had waved at them to follow her through a curtain into the back area she pointed towards a little studio. Of course. They needed pictures. While the Doctor went first, obviously not caring much about his looks Clara took a moment to have a look into the mirror and straighten her hair. She had deep shadows under her eyes and was wearing no make-up whatsoever. A part of her wanted to be vain and ask for a minute to put some on when the Doctor already ushered her towards the chair and a few moments later the flash of the camera went off.  
“You can wait here in the back. There's a coffee maker over there and snacks are in the cupboard,” Donna said half-heartedly as she made her way back to her office. 

When the Doctor just sank down on one of the chairs Clara turned towards the coffee maker because she was in desperate need for some caffeine and maybe a cigarette, too, but she didn't really want to bring it up in front of the Doctor. He hadn't seemed so pleased with the habit she had taken up during her time at university. Eventually she settled down next to him, slowly sipping her drink.  
The longer the Doctor brooded over his mug the more impatient he seemed to grow, constantly tapping his fingers on the table or jiggling his legs. Clara had half a mind to tell him to stop when he suddenly shouted.  
“How much longer is this going to take?”  
“I finished one!” Donna called back but the Doctor didn't seem to believe her as he rose from his chair and went to the front office to check.  
Just a minute later however he came back, mumbling: “She finished one.”  
Clara didn't know much time passed after he had sat back down but after a while the tiny bell on the front door rang. She expected Donna to tell the person that the office was closed but the longer the redhead remained silent in her office the more agitated Clara grew. Something didn't feel quite right when instead of a potential customer being told to come back tomorrow all she heard were hushed voices and then the Doctor grabbed her wrist.  
The realisation struck her like lightning and her heart suddenly started pounding in her chest. Clara only needed to look at the Doctor to know something was very, very wrong. As silently as humanly possible they both rose from their seats and slowly and on tiptoes the Doctor led the way towards the door to have a peek. Clara couldn't even hear the whispers anymore, all she heard was the blood rushing through her ears. Carefully she pulled at the Doctor's sleeve to gain his attention when he suddenly spun around.  
“I know that man,” he whispered, “He works for Missy.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and I see you survived the cliffhanger (I'm sorry that I'm not that it won't be the last). Let's see how they will get out if this one.

Clara swallowed hard as she wrecked her brain for a solution to their apparent problem. She didn't need a lot of imagination to know that Donna had sold them out because there was no other reason for an employee of Missy to be here. And if Missy was an assassin she had a hunch about what was going to happen to them.  
“Maybe get out the back door?” Clara suggested hopefully, her voice hardly audible.  
The Doctor bent down to whisper into her ear. “There is no back door.”  
She could hear his breathing when the Doctor brushed her ear and at his words her heart was racing just a little bit faster. They were trapped.  
“Stay right behind me,” the Doctor ordered her sharply and reached for her hand. Before Clara had a chance to react he pulled her in the direction of the office, straight into danger.  
Donna and the man stared at them as soon as they entered and Clara could see a hint of a smile on his face. He wasn't what she had expected, young, dark hair, a sort of idiot look to him that made her think of a school chess champion rather than an assassin. But maybe that was the trick.  
“Doctor,” the man put on a bright smile, “Fancy seeing you here.”  
“Seb, isn't it?” the Doctor half growled. The man nodded in reply. “You're a long way from home.”  
Seb gave a small shrug, that idiotic smile still stuck on his face and Clara wondered if it would ever come off. He really didn't seem like a cold-blooded killer. “My boss would like a word with you, Miss Oswald,” he turned his smile directly towards her, “It will not take long and I will personally escort you back to London.”  
“Over my dead body,” the Doctor said sharply, glaring at the young man.  
Only now Clara again became aware of the other person in the room as Donna rose from her office chair. She threw Clara an apologetic glance.  
“You stay where you are!” the Doctor ordered her angrily, “You still have me to answer to for this.”  
Clara flinched at the sharpness of his voice and hid further behind his back. Never before had she seen the Doctor angry and it was a frightening sight to behold. She genuinely did not know what he was going to do next.  
“I'm sorry,” Donna mumbled and to her own surprise Clara believed her, “You know my family needs the money. You know how things are. When Missy put the word out I-”  
“Enough!” he shouted in reply.  
Suddenly Clara's eyes wandered to the edge of the desk where she saw their passports lying. She had no idea whether they were finished or not but if they got out of this somehow they would need them. Maybe she could grab them when no one else was looking?  
“Now, now,” Seb smiled at them and suddenly produced a gun, waving it in their direction, “Let's not make this harder than it is. You're free to go, Doctor. Missy just wants to talk to Clara. Hand her over. This doesn't have to be complicated.”  
Clara couldn't see the Doctor's face, so when he hesitated to speak she was scared for just a tiny little moment. Until he reached for his own gun and pointed it straight at Seb. That was her moment, the moment everyone else was too busy being shocked. She reached for the passports and stuffed them into the back pocket of her trousers.  
Seb snorted. “Please, Doctor. Everyone knows you're not a killer,” he laughed, “Let's just quit this game and give me the girl.”  
“Clara,” the Doctor said calmly, “Stay right behind me and do as I say.”  
She watched Seb's expression when the Doctor continued to point the gun at him and slowly but surely the smile was fading from his face.  
“You're right,” the Doctor said, taking a step towards Seb, “I am not a killer. But I _am_ a man of my word. You know that, too, right?”  
The man nodded, swallowing, but he never lowered his gun. Clara noticed how his hand was beginning to shake.  
“I swore that I would keep Clara safe and I am willing to die to keep that promise. Make no mistake, if you shoot – and you're a lousy shot – I will still have time to put a bullet right into your eye and Clara will still get away. Are you willing to die for a lost cause?”  
His voice was calm but still as sharp as a knife and Clara knew that he absolutely meant what he was saying. Right now she was only praying it wouldn't come to that. She needed the Doctor, she depended on him and she really, really couldn't lose him now.  
Then suddenly a shot was fired and for a moment it seemed as if her heart had stopped until she realized that it was the Doctor who had pulled the trigger. Right into Seb's foot. The man dropped his gun and yelped with pain but she didn't have time to see what else was happening as the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office and back to their car. He fired his gun once more, aiming at the tire of the other car parked next to theirs before they both jumped into their seats and he drove off.

He didn't speak for the longest time, he just stared at the road ahead, pushing the pedal down and driving them out of the city and for a while Clara was even thankful for it. She needed to gather her thoughts, make sense of what had happened and calm down. Now she knew one thing for sure – she could trust the Doctor to protect her, even if the lengths he would go to to do that terrified her once more. After a while however the silence became sort of unnerving.  
“You shot him,” Clara stated and was surprised at how small her voice sounded.  
“In the foot,” he replied coldly, “He'll live.”  
A part of her wanted to thank him for saving her once again but something told her that the Doctor wouldn't appreciate that right now.  
“It was all for nothing,” he suddenly cursed, hitting the steering wheel with his flat hand in his anger, “We needed the passports.”  
It was only then that Clara remembered they were still in her trouser pocket and she had no idea whether Donna had had the time to finish them or not. She lifted her butt off the seat and pulled them out, holding them up for the Doctor to see.  
“I took them while you boys were playing with your weapons,” Clara smiled and suddenly felt a stab of pride when the Doctor's eyes widened in amazement. She opened her passport and couldn't spot a difference to a real one. “Seems like Donna finished them after all.”  
The Doctor let out a sudden laugh. “Clara Oswald, I could kiss you,” he turned his head towards her, smiling broadly, “You really are clever, aren't you?”  
Clara gave a small shrug of her shoulders but couldn't hide the smile. Of course she was clever and she was well aware of that, even though she had learned to hide that from her acquaintances at university.  
“So, what now?” she asked him, “Missy knows roughly where we are, so I guess we should go somewhere else.”  
The Doctor took a deep breath. “Yes. Probably. Find a quiet place to hide for a while,” he snorted, “Missy is going to search the entire UK for a man named John Smith.”  
The last comment made Clara laugh. “Well, that will keep her busy for a while. But hey, since we're both Smiths, what are we now? Husband and wife?”  
The Doctor frowned at her. “Or I could be your father. I'm old enough.”  
His last statement made Clara flinch. “Don't say it like that, that's just weird.”  
“Why?” he asked but Clara never answered him. This wasn't the time to make a pass at him. They both had better things to worry about now.  
“Did Missy kill my father? I mean, if she sent people out to find me-”  
“I don't know,” he replied abruptly, “And she won't be the only one looking for you. Everyone knows how much your father loved you, everyone has seen the photo of you he kept on his desk.”  
“They know what I look like?” Clara asked, suddenly horrified. If they just happened to come across someone who knew her all the fake passports in the world wouldn't help them. Then she spotted a hair salon they were passing. “Pull up here!”  
“What?”  
“I want to get my hair cut.”  
“Clara, this is hardly the time to do that,” the Doctor tried to reason with her.  
“If they know what I look like I better change the way I look. The least I can do is make it a little less easy for them,” Clara replied determinedly.

Finally the Doctor seemed to have seen the sense behind her words and he turned the car around to stop at the salon. Clara went in on her own while he waited in the car and she kept staring at her own reflection while the hairdresser cut her long hair up to her shoulder. There was something odd about it, even though Clara couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was as if there was more than hair falling away from her, as if it somehow symbolized her losses, her life slowly slipping away, disintegrating. She had lost her father, her home, the people she had called friends and she only now realized how little she had actually cared about them. She struggled to keep away the tears as the hairdresser showed her the finished result and she paid without saying another word before Clara headed back to the car.  
“It looks nice,” the Doctor commented as she buckled up, “I like it.”  
“Just drive,” she replied absent-mindedly and leaned towards the window, watching the towns and the trees fly by until it was too dark to see anything.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *group hug* thank you sooooo much for the comments! Now, how about we get a little cosy?

The Doctor switched off the engine after he had parked the car on a small forest road in the middle of nowhere, away from sight. He had promised her to find a small apartment the next day but wanted to get far away from Leeds before they did that. Clara had only nodded, as if she hadn't cared much about where they were going to spend the night. Until the realisation seemed to have struck her and the Doctor could feel her mood shift.  
“There's worse places to spend a night at,” he said right before the first raindrops started hitting the car, “See, we could be sleeping out there. That would be worse.”  
“I'm hungry,” Clara complained grumpily and sank back into her seat.  
The Doctor reached behind the seat and pulled out a plastic bag filled the food he had bought earlier before he handed Clara a package of Lunchables and a bottle of water.  
“Lunchables?” she stared up at him, her eyes so full of disbelief, “I haven't had those in ages. These were my favourite kind.”  
“I know,” he replied, trying to hide a smirk and failing. He did feel a little proud of himself. “I remember. You always made me pull up at a shop to buy them.”  
When Clara didn't reply he suddenly started to grow uneasy. “Please don't start crying again.”  
She let out a giggle. “I won't,” Clara said right before she tore the package open and stuffed one of the crackers into her mouth.  
The Doctor followed her example and opened a box for himself, carefully stacking the sausage and cheese slices on one of the crackers before he ate it. He evaluated the taste for a while until he came to the conclusion that it wasn't half as bad as he had expected.  
“I prefer real food, but this is alright,” he commented, preparing another cracker while Clara did the same.  
“Real food is a little hard to come by in the middle of nowhere. Unless you catch a rabbit and roast it on a spit and I really don't want to eat _that_ ,” she said while chewing.

They ate in silence for a long moment and the Doctor used the little light they had to look at Clara. The shorter hair really suited her but something had changed about her ever since she had returned from the salon. Maybe the reality of what was happening was finally beginning to hit. He worried about her, even though he would never dare to ask her about it directly. Losing her father, her home and her friends on one day couldn't be easy and yet apart from the first night and a brief moment at the shopping centre her shock and grief hardly shone through. The Doctor guessed that most of the time she simply forgot about it while they were on the run, that she pushed the thoughts aside because they were still in danger and had almost a thousand problems to solve yet. But at some point it would hit her and it would be hard. The Doctor would be there for her when it happened not just because of the promise he had made her father but because he cared about her more deeply than he would have thought.  
When Seb had said that he wasn't a killer he had been right and yet – for Clara he would have pulled the trigger without thinking twice. But for Clara's sake he had chosen not to kill him. Maybe that would later turn out to have been a mistake, he couldn't tell.  
“How do you know Missy so well?” Clara suddenly asked, surprising him with her question. Missy was a topic he didn't particularly like to dwell upon but keeping it from Clara didn't seem fair.  
“We went to school together,” he stated plainly and could see the surprise written all over her face, “In Glasgow. We were friends then, don't ask me how. She's the only one who knows my real identity and I know hers. That has caused a lot of tension at some points when we were forced to work with one another, or against each other.”  
“And you met again through the organisation?”  
“Yes,” the Doctor hissed sharply as he leaned back into his seat. He felt tired all of a sudden and it was no wonder after a day like that. It was as if all the energy had left him. He just wanted to sleep.  
Apparently Clara had come to the same conclusion as she turned the knob that brought her seat into a horizontal position.  
“There's a sleeping bag that doubles as a blanket on the back seat,” the Doctor explained to her. For a November night it was pleasantly warm and yet not warm enough to sleep without at least a thin layer of fabric. Clara found the blanket and covered herself with it as he turned off the lights and locked the car doors.  
“Aren't you gonna be cold?” she asked quietly.  
“I have my coat,” he replied and pulled it closer to his body. He would be cold but it was better than Clara being cold and tomorrow they would finally find a more permanent place to stay where they could come up with a plan. “Good night.”  
“Good night,” she breathed in reply.

The rain grew heavier with every passing minute, the sound of the drops hitting the car the only thing that could be heard for a long while. It was both calming and annoying at the same time and the Doctor knew that he wouldn't find sleep easily tonight despite being tired. What if someone had followed them, only waiting for them to fall asleep to attack? They would be utterly defenceless and unable to see anything coming through the fogged windows. The Doctor turned around to face Clara but couldn't even make her out a vague shape in the darkness.  
“Doctor?” she asked quietly.  
“You should sleep,” he whispered, “It's been a long day.”  
“Can I hold your hand?”  
Her words hung in the air for a long moment before he finally reached out and pulled her hand to his mouth to leave a soft kiss on the back of it before he held it tightly. Her hand was so soft and small in his own and once again it reminded him how fragile Clara truly was no matter her strong character. He had to keep her safe. And he loved her. The Doctor realized it right then and there, even though it seemed strange to him. He hadn't seen her for 10 years and still he loved her, like he always had, this magnificent girl that had turned into such a strong and clever woman. He closed his eyes, letting that comforting feeling of warmth lull him to sleep.

* * *

The first thing Clara noticed when she was beginning to wake up was the cold. Last night she had been fine but now it seemed to have crept up on her despite the blanket and she opened her eyes. It wasn't dark outside anymore but daylight was something else entirely. It was still raining, not heavily, just that steady English rain that never really seemed to cease and when Clara's eyes wandered to where the Doctor was lying next to her, looking at his phone, she noticed one important thing missing – his jacket. However she soon found it right on top of her blanket.  
“Take off your shirt,” she joked sleepily.  
When the Doctor turned around he seemed confused for a moment before he started to look downright startled as he lifted his eyebrows.  
“You gave me your jacket. I thought you might be too hot,” Clara explained, turning the seat back into a sitting position, “It was a joke.”  
“You looked cold while you slept,” he said matter-of-factly and continued to scroll through something on his phone.  
Clara smiled at him even though he couldn't see.  
“I found some potential places for us to stay. Wanna have a look?” the Doctor asked but before she could reply he was holding the phone in her direction. Clara had no choice but to take it.  
She was staring at an app designed for people looking for a place to stay during a holiday or for other short term purposes and the first house she was looking at was small, very small and the corridor seemed as if even two people couldn't fit in there. She swiped to the next one. Also small, even though slightly bigger than the last and located in a village with probably around 300 inhabitants judging by the map. There were cows in the background of the picture. She swiped again.  
“Uh, I like this one,” Clara said, giggling, reading the description out loud “ _Perfect for a quiet getaway for two._ ”  
The Doctor cleared his throat. “Well, we're two people and we're eager to get away. It has two bedrooms if that's what you're worried about.”  
“I'm not worried about anything,” she smirked, “It's nice. But isn't outside of Bracknell a bit close to London?”  
“They think we're close to Leeds. I don't know if they'd expect us to drive all the way back south but the house seems pretty isolated. We'll be fine.”  
Clara stared at the photos of the house again and had to admit he was right. It seemed to be in the middle of the forest but that only suited their needs. They didn't need nosy neighbours asking about them.  
“Okay, we'll take it,” she decided.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooooo much for the comments! Every single one of them makes me so happy :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Now I'll just tease you with some cuteness before we plunge back into drama and action. Don't let the cuteness fool you. It will come :D

“Clara, I said only the essentials,” the Doctor reminded her impatiently as she continued to pack everything she liked into the shopping cart, “I have no idea how long we'll be staying. This might all go to waste.”  
Clara gawked at him. “Excuse me, I find tea to be very essential,” she replied right before she dropped it in the cart.  
“Yes, but two packets of it? You know we can go shopping again when we're out of tea?”  
She shrugged. “I drink a lot of tea.”  
The Doctor glared at her but eventually decided to let it pass, knowing he could never convince her to put one of them back anyway. Besides, if everything went according to plan they would indeed be staying at the house in the woods for a while.  
They walked through the aisles together, picking food and toiletries and just when the Doctor was about to reach for an aftershave Clara slapped his hand away.  
“Ouch!” he hissed by instinct even though it hadn't really hurt at all, “What was that for?”  
“We're going to be living together, so you better pick one that smells nicely because I do not want to be surrounded by a smell that reminds me of a drug dealer,” she explained and took a tester bottle from the shelf to have a sniff. He watched as she wrinkled her nose and went on to the next one, staring at her with pure disbelief.  
“You're quite bossy, has anyone ever told you that?”  
Clara let out a giggle before she came to look at him. “Thank you. And yeah, constantly,” she held a tester in his direction, “What do you think of this one?”  
The Doctor bent forward to smell it and hated to admit that he liked it. “Just take it so we can leave,” he grumbled and pushed their cart ahead in the direction of the drinks department.  
“Hey, haven't you forgotten something?” Clara called after him and the Doctor turned back around, “Or are you gonna grow a beard?”  
He frowned at her before double-checking the contents of their shopping cart.  
“You've already got razors,” he stated plainly and wondered if he was missing something.  
“Oh no,” Clara laughed and grabbed another pack, “You're not using mine. Trust me, after I've used them you don't want them in your face.”  
While he was still pondering her words her facial features suddenly changed into a mischievous smirk and even her posture shifted a little. If only he knew what she was talking about.  
“Or do you?”  
If the Doctor hadn't known better he would have thought that Clara was flirting with him in a very, very strange way.  
“Let's just get going, shall we?” the Doctor cleared his throat and continued pushing the cart to finally put an end to this confusion. He dropped a case of water bottles into the shopping cart when he spotted Clara again, approaching him with two bottles of wine.  
“I know that look on your face,” she said, “And yes, this is essential, too.”  
“It hardly is. Put them back.”  
Clara smiled at him daringly as she lowered them into the cart, not breaking eye contact for a second.  
“Clara-”  
He broke off when she reached out to the shelf to grab another bottle, the smile still on her face. “Yes, Doctor? You were saying?”  
“Nothing,” he growled in defeat, watching as Clara placed the bottle back because her persuasion technique had worked, “You're bossy. And a brat.”  
Clara giggled as she placed an arm around his shoulder, guiding him to push the cart in the direction of the check-outs and he stiffened under her touch again. He would get used to it at some point, he hoped, because there was only a small chance she would stop touching or hugging him.  
“Let's just pay and get out of here,” she suggested and the Doctor could only agree with her.

* * *

It was almost dark when they met with the owner of the house to exchange money and keys but even in the twilight Clara could see that it was a nice, cosy hut. She was fairly certain that she would like it here, at least for the time being.  
“If you have any more questions, just call me,” the man said as he handed the Doctor a small note, “This is my phone number, wifi password and my address. I live 30 minutes from here in the city.”  
“Thank you,” the Doctor replied for them both as Clara was still busy looking around.  
“Well, have a lovely time,” the owner smiled at them, “Honeymoon, isn't it?”  
“Actually-”  
“Yeah,” Clara interrupted the Doctor, putting on a smile as she reached for his hand, “Newly-wed and all.”  
The owner gave them a bright smile as he walked back to his car and Clara knew that the Doctor was about to say something, scold her for telling people they were married but before that could happen she grabbed a couple of their bags and headed inside, leaving the Doctor no choice except to do the same.  
Clara had been right about the house. It truly was cosy. As soon as she entered Clara was facing a staircase that parted the main room into a smaller kitchen area with a table and chairs and an open door behind which she could see the bathroom. The other half was meant as a living room, a sofa and comfortable looking chairs arranged around a coffee table and all of them facing the telly. She also discovered bookshelves with more than enough material to read.  
“That's a lot of wood. Better be careful with open fire,” the Doctor commented and only now she realized that he had followed her inside. He wasn't wrong however. The entire hut was built out of wood, the floor laid out with carpets and everything about it made her think about winter and snow and skiing for some reason. She had been to the Alps one winter with her friends and they had stayed in a place exactly like this.  
“Wanna have a look at the upstairs?” Clara asked him and the Doctor nodded in agreement before he followed her along the stairs. Like the online description had promised they found two bedrooms, both with a large bed and a drawer for their clothes.  
“Which one do you want?” the Doctor asked her after a moment.  
Clara gave a light shrug. “They look identical, so I don't really care.”  
There was something about settling down here that made her uneasy, even though she should probably be feeling quite the opposite. They had been on the run for only two days and yet it felt like forever. But as soon as they stood still Clara realized that all of it had only just happened. Her father. Her house. All those people in it. Quickly she brushed the thought aside and decided to busy herself with making dinner while the Doctor unloaded the car. 

“You shouldn't have told him that,” the Doctor said, poking around his risotto.  
Clara took a sip from the wine and placed the glass back on the table. “Told what to whom?”  
“The owner,” he replied reluctantly, obviously uncomfortable with this conversation, “That we're married.”  
Clara frowned. “Well, he asked and it's as good a cover story as any. Why? What's wrong with that?”  
He didn't look at her, instead the Doctor kept pushing the contents of his plate from one corner to the other. “Because I'm older. I don't want people to get the wrong end of the stick.”  
Clara giggled and brought the glass back to her mouth. “For the record, I've slept with men older than you. There's nothing wrong with that.”  
Finally the Doctor looked at her and his face was a mask of both shock and horror – and maybe something else that she couldn't quite place. “I've slept with women younger than you,” he replied coldly.  
“Yeah, but I bet you were younger, too,” Clara laughed.  
When once again he lowered his gaze to his plate she knew that she had caught him. But it took him only a moment before his eyes were back on her.  
“Look at you,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice, “Smoking, drinking wine, talking about the men you've slept with. You really have grown up.”  
“Then maybe you should stop seeing me as a child,” Clara said sincerely. There was no anger in her voice, it was merely a suggestion.  
The Doctor smiled in reply. “I'll do my best.”

When Clara had retreated to bed she had assumed she would just fall asleep like she had done the nights before, only better because now she had an actual bed and she had it all to herself. However when she had turned over for the 20th time she realized that sleep wouldn't come so easily. Her body was tired and yet her mind was restless, constantly going over the past two days. Did someone survive the explosion at her house? She was sure of that, but how many? Who had survived? Had someone started investigating the death of her father already? Did they have any leads? Would they be looking for her to ask her questions? Would they call her grandmother?  
Oh God, her grandmother. She hadn't thought about her once since she and the Doctor had run away. If her grandma had heard of the explosion she probably thought Clara to be dead. She needed to call her.  
Clara threw the covers aside and walked across the corridor and into the Doctor's room without even knocking.  
“I need to call my grandma!” she blurted out, “What if she thinks I'm dead?”  
Slowly the Doctor scrambled into a sitting position and switched the light back on to be able to look at her.  
“Clara, you can't call her now. It's past midnight,” he tried to reason with her and he sounded very, very tired, “There's still time tomorrow. Go back to sleep.”  
“I can't,” she complained loudly, the despair audible in her voice, “I've tried for the past hour and it's not working. I can't stop thinking about it.”  
“You slept the previous nights. Just give it another try.”  
He was right. She had slept the previous night but he had been lying next to her then. With him in the same room Clara didn't feel quite so lost and lonely.  
“Can I sleep here with you?”  
“Clara-”  
“Please?” she almost begged him.  
Finally the Doctor lifted up the duvet, but not without one last sound of protest. Quickly, before he could change his mind, Clara climbed into bed next to him and sank down into the soft pillows.  
“Now sleep,” he ordered her and turned off the lights again. Clara closed her eyes and focused on his breathing. Yes, now she would be able to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sooooooooooooooo much for the comments!!!! 
> 
> When will the danger hit? When will the domestic fluff come to an abrupt end?

When the Doctor woke up he was surprised to find the bed next to him empty. He leaned back into the pillows and sighed, wondering what the hell he was going to do with Clara. They couldn't share a bed forever but he found it so incredibly hard to say no to her. Yet he was afraid that something might happen if they continued to be so close. He didn't really trust her to make reasonable decisions after what she had been through, and he didn't trust himself because he knew he would do about anything to make her happy. A glance at the clock told the Doctor that it wasn't even 8 am and suddenly he started to wonder what Clara was doing up so early so he decided to have a look. However when he was about to reach for one of the new shirts he had bought he couldn't find it where he had left it. He put on the plaid trousers and a different, plain shirt but he still couldn't see the one he had laid out the night before anywhere.  
The whereabouts of his shirt soon became clear as he stepped into the kitchen and found Clara at the stove, wearing it along with his socks.  
The Doctor cleared his throat. “I think that is my shirt,” he commented as he stepped closer to have a look at what she was doing. He had thought she would be preparing breakfast but now he wasn't so sure anymore.  
“Sorry,” Clara mumbled, whisking the dough, “I just put on the first thing that I could get my hands on. It's comfortable and I put all my new clothes in the washing machine. I hate wearing them when they smell new.”  
He sighed. “Alright, you can keep it for now. What's this?” he asked her, pointing at the dough.  
“I'm making soufflés,” she replied.  
“A bit extravagant for breakfast, don't you think?”  
He was hoping to coax a smile from her but Clara's features remained cold, thoughtful.  
“It's a distraction,” Clara explained after a while, “I woke up an hour ago and it was too earlier to call my gran so I decided to do something.”  
The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder to make her turn around and he realized that she looked troubled, to say the least. It seemed as if the truth was finally beginning to dawn on her.  
“How are you feeling?” he asked and when she had opened her mouth he interrupted her before Clara had the chance to say anything, “Don't say you're okay because I know you're not. That's okay, that's normal.”  
Clara inhaled deeply. “I should be with my grandma. She shouldn't have to deal with this on her own.”  
“No,” the Doctor said sharply, “They will expect that. You're safer here and your grandma wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger.”  
She looked up at him with her big, sad eyes and suddenly he found his heart melting away. If he could take all that pain away from her he would but the Doctor knew that she would have to face these demons on her own.  
“Call your gran, tell her you're safe,” he told her gently.  
Clara nodded. “What do I say when she asks me where I am? Who I'm with?”  
“Don't tell her. It's enough if she knows you're with friends and that you're safe and sound.”  
The Doctor released Clara from his grip and she reached for her phone and then proceeded to walk towards the front door – where she slipped on his boots and coat to go outside and make her call. The Doctor had almost laughed. She looked so ridiculously small in his oversized clothes and yet there was something sweet about it.

To take his mind off Clara's looks the Doctor switched on the kettle and grabbed a yoghurt from the fridge before he settled on the sofa. He switched on the telly just in time for the news.  
“. . . have dropped since 2012 but I say we can do better than that,” Harold Saxon explained to a mass of newspaper and press employees. The Doctor knew that man as he was most likely to become the next prime minister.  
“This country should focus on both its strengths and its weaknesses. And by using our strengths we might just overcome our greatest weaknesses, which is the future. An increase in arms exports will not only secure more jobs but also boost the economy.”  
The Doctor frowned at the television set and suddenly a feeling of uneasiness was beginning to creep up on him. He remembered overhearing Dave talk about Saxon and his plans for the future, which involved other things than just an increase in weapon exports. As far as he knew several associates had approached David Oswald with the plea to stop Harold Saxon. But since Dave was now dead there was nothing standing in his way.  
“Doctor?”  
He turned around to see Clara standing next to the sofa and she had tears in her eyes. She looked so fragile and small right before she sank down on the couch next to him, flung her arms around his neck and broke out into violent sobs.  
The Doctor muted the telly and turned his attention to the crying woman next to him, gently wrapping his arms around her back. He gave her all the time she needed to calm down and suddenly he realized he didn't even mind hugging her that much anymore. In fact, he was actually starting to like it.  
“How did it go with your grandma?” the Doctor asked softly after a few minutes when Clara had stopped shaking.  
“Terribly,” Clara breathed, “She's so in shock over Dad I can't. . . I should be with her.”  
“I know, but it's not possible. We talked about that,” he whispered, all the while gently caressing her hair.  
Suddenly Clara tore away from his embrace and looked straight at him, her eyes red but full of determination. “I'm going to kill whoever did this,” she said, “They're going to pay for what they did to my father and my friends.”  
The Doctor could do nothing but stare at her. She was so angry, so fierce right now as she was saying these words that he didn't think he could reason with her. But he had to try because there was no way he would ever let it get that far.  
“Clara-”  
“No,” she said strictly, “Don't Clara me, don't treat me like a child who doesn't have a say in anything. I have the key, remember? I am the head of my father's organisation if I choose to be.”  
“That is _not_ how your father would have wanted it, Clara, and you know it,” the Doctor replied, raising his voice, “And you won't want that either once you can see clearly again. Clara, please, don't make any rash decisions. Your father just wanted you to be safe, not-”  
“My father is dead,” Clara almost shouted, “He is dead and you answer to _me_ now, not him!”  
Her words hung in the air and for a moment the Doctor was truly lost for words. He would never help Clara become the head of the organisation because whoever had killed him, they would try the same with Clara and he would never let that happen. She would never be safe and that was the only thing Dave had wanted for her, the only thing the Doctor wanted for her. He wouldn't let her rise to her father's position or let her become a murderer, not while he was around.  
“I'm gonna finish the soufflé,” Clara said and abruptly rose from the couch to head back into the kitchen.  
The Doctor sank back into the cushions and sighed. This was going to be more difficult than he would have thought.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooooooooooo much for the comments! *hugs all of you*
> 
> Now, let's see how you enjoy this one ;)

The Doctor was suffering from cabin fever. There was no other explanation for his wound up and ruffled state. 7 days they had been locked up in here with no other place to go than the woods and the grocery shop. While Clara had calmed down more and more with each day, never once mentioning her plans of revenge again after the second day, the Doctor had only become more agitated. He hated not having anything to do. He hated sitting around and above all he hated what it did to him.  
He watched Clara lounge about on the sofa, reading another Jane Austen novel, her naked feet dangling in the air. He knew he should be reading, too. The book was in his hands but his eyes would much rather remain on Clara's small figure, her soft skin, the hair that she kept brushing back behind her ear every five minutes. She was pretty like that, more than pretty and the Doctor's thoughts wandered over her body again, wondering what it would be like to touch her here and there, what sounds she would make if he climbed on top of her, kissing her.  
Cabin fever. That's what it was. He hated being cooped up like this.  
“Hangman,” he said after a while.  
“I'm sorry?” Clara craned her neck to look at him, the confusion written all over her face.  
“We could play hangman.”  
Clara chuckled. “Who is the child now?”  
The Doctor rose from his chair and threw the book aside, pacing the living room floor. He knew they were safe here, otherwise someone would have gotten to them already but seeing as they were rather close to London going out always posed a risk. He had half a mind to give in to Clara's earlier request for revenge just to have something to do. This place was too small, no wonder his thoughts kept circling around Clara when he saw her almost every minute of every day.  
“What about a walk?” he suggested hopefully but when Clara nodded in the direction of the window he was reminded of the early December weather and the rain that kept knocking heavily against the glass. Okay, no walk then.  
“We could cook something together,” Clara had laid her book aside and was smiling at him now. She didn't seem to mind staying here very much, in fact, the Doctor was under the impression that it did her good, gave her a chance to calm down and come to terms with what had happened.  
Clara often spoke to her grandmother on the phone, at least once a day. During their first days here she had cried sometimes, especially at night but now a sort of serenity seemed to have settled over her, even though she still refused to sleep alone in her own room. That was what bothered him the most because while Clara slept like a baby the Doctor found it increasingly hard to fall asleep with her lying next to him.  
“Cooking sounds good,” he agreed after a moment. It was almost lunch time.

The Doctor led the way into the kitchen and Clara followed him on his heels, skipping ahead of him to grab the cookbook from the counter and open a random page. She made a grimace and turned it over.  
“How about an old-fashioned omelette?” she suggested, smiling up at him.  
The Doctor ignored how his heart skipped a beat at her smile and nodded before he walked up to the fridge to retrieve some eggs and Clara started to fire up the hob.

* * *

Clara woke up to find herself still in darkness and for a brief moment she wondered what had roused her from her sleep when suddenly she found the Doctor stirring next to her. She lifted herself up only to see that he still had his eyes closed. He was dreaming and writhing in his sleep, a few drops of sweat glistening on his forehead in the dim moonlight. He uttered a low moan and Clara considered waking him for a moment, thinking that he was probably having a nightmare.  
Gently she placed her hand on his chest and bent down to his ear. “Doctor,” she whispered kindly.  
“Mhhhh,” he moaned again, differently this time, “Clara.”  
A wave of heat shot through her body at the sound of her name and the way in which he had said it. He was dreaming alright, but now she wasn't so sure anymore whether it was actually a nightmare. The Doctor always seemed so clueless and oblivious to her attempts to flirt with him that Clara had already given up the hope of her efforts ever getting her anywhere. She believed he saw her as a child. But what if he didn't?  
Carefully she dipped her hand under the covers and led it between his legs. A rush of arousal went through her when she found him hard but he still didn't wake up. Clara couldn't help but smile. This was her chance. It was now or never.  
She palmed him through the fabric of his pyjamas and squeezed gently only to find that the Doctor was instantly arching his hips up to meet her touch, groaning as he did and muttering her name again. He was dreaming about her and he was aroused, a thought that immediately sent her mind racing. As she stroked him a little harder Clara couldn't help but notice how big he felt in her hand and how her own sex started to itch at the idea of taking him inside of her. She wanted him so much, she had wanted him since she had been old enough to think about sex.  
Beneath the covers she climbed on top of him and straddled his lap, causing him to thrust his hips up once more before she bent down to press their lips together in a kiss. Then the Doctor opened his eyes and stared at her.

He had struggled free and ducked out under her before Clara could even realize what was happening and just a moment later they were both sitting up in bed, looking at each other.  
“What the hell are you doing?” the Doctor asked, panting a little, his voice full of horror.  
And suddenly she didn't feel quite so sure about herself anymore, so she gave him an insecure laugh. “I thought it was obvious.”  
“It is. Was,” he stammered, “Clara, this can't happen. Not you. Me. It's just-”  
He broke off, still trying to catch his breath. He was so befuddled in his tired and aroused state that he seemed to have trouble getting the words out. She would have found it cute under different circumstances, but her mood had vanished at the brutal interruption.  
“You were dreaming about me. You _moaned_ my name,” Clara said accusingly and she could've sworn she saw him blush even in the darkness, “You want it, I could feel it.”  
She reached out to touch him again but the Doctor caught her hand before she could come anywhere near him.  
“Of course I'm dreaming about you. You're the only person I've seen and talked to for a week but this means nothing,” the Doctor said and there was a hint of anger in his voice, even though Clara believed it was directed more at himself than her.  
She swallowed hard and withdrew her hand from his grasp. “Okay,” she said, exhaling sharply. She had been mistaken then and her dream of ever getting intimate with him burst like a bubble. “Okay. I'm sorry. Won't happen again,” she hesitated, “Do you need some privacy?”  
The Doctor furrowed his brows at her.  
“Well, you know,” she said sheepishly and dropped her gaze to his crotch, “We've been sharing a room for a week. There can't have been many opportunities for. . . _private moments_.”  
“Clara!” he exclaimed, aghast.  
She rolled her eyes and jumped up from the bed. If he was going to play dumb and coy he could do it without her in the room. “Nevermind,” she said angrily, “I'll sleep in my own room.”

Clara closed the door a little more loudly than she had intended but she didn't care enough about it to go back and apologize. Instead she made her way to the empty bedroom that hadn't been used since their first night here and sank down on the bed. Needless to say she didn't really find the sleep she had wanted tonight.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments!!!!  
> Now, enjoy this peaceful chapter :D

The Doctor felt restless after the incident with Clara but at least he could find comfort in the thought that he had made the right decision. Clara was confused and grieving and surely their closeness within the past few days had only aided to making her act like she had just now. The Doctor himself was torn; he cared so deeply about her that these new dreams and thoughts confused him because they wouldn't fit in the picture he had of their relationship. The cabin fever was to blame, of that he was sure.  
Once he realized that sleep wouldn't come the Doctor left his bedroom and upon passing the room Clara would probably be sleeping in now he briefly considered going in to apologize to her, though what for he couldn't really say. Instead he dragged his body downstairs under the shower where the warm water felt somewhat soothing on his glowing skin. He was still too hot, too wound up even though his earlier arousal had abated the Doctor could still feel it lingering deep inside like a nagging, distracting presence and so he decided to do as Clara had suggested and have a _private moment_. As he cupped himself in his hand he tried to ban the thought of Clara from his head entirely, even though she still tried to invade his fantasies.  
It was still dark and raining outside when he dropped down on the sofa and switched on the telly, not really feeling tired but soon the boring, emotionless voice of the weather reporter lulled him to sleep.

* * *

“Wakey wakey,” Clara teased and when the Doctor opened his eyes the first thing he spotted was a bowl of cereal and a steaming mug of coffee. The scent already filled the air and the Doctor scrambled into a sitting position.  
“Why did you sleep down here?” Clara inquired curiously as she sank into the cushions next to him, her own mug firmly in her hands before she took a careful sip.  
The Doctor brought his hands to his face, rubbing at his eyes and letting out a tired groan. “Excellent question. My back is asking me the same thing,” he growled and heard Clara giggle next to him. That was a good sound. At least she wasn't sulking or mad at him.  
He withdrew his hands and turned around to be able to look at Clara. She looked tired as well, as if she hadn't gotten a good rest either but at least she seemed to be in a more cheerful mood. After last night he had feared the worst.  
“I'm sorry about what happened last night,” he apologised sincerely and Clara turned around to face him, her eyes wide and alert.  
“It's okay,” she reassured him.  
“No, it's not,” he took a deep breath before he reached for both of her hands. He just felt the need to say something, to explain himself. He couldn't stand the thought of what she might think of him, “Clara, I care very deeply about you, I always have.”  
The Doctor felt her hand twitch in his own, as if she had thought about pulling away but then changed her mind. “I told you that I will keep you safe but that, last night, that's not part of that.”  
“I get it,” Clara said, keeping her voice low and her eyes on him, “You have a duty of care.”  
“Exactly,” he inhaled sharply, “I just don't want you to get the wrong idea or be mad at me.”  
Clara let out a soft laugh. “I'm not mad. I was, for a bit, now I'm not.”  
“Good,” he whispered before he bent forward and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead. He heard Clara sigh when he pulled away and finally he turned towards the breakfast she had prepared for him.  
Suddenly Clara giggled again, making the Doctor turn around once more. But she stared straight into her bowl of cereal, laughing as she took a spoonful.  
“About time I bury that fantasy, I guess,” she chuckled.  
The Doctor cocked an eyebrow at her, not really knowing what she was referring to. “What fantasy?”  
Clara turned around, smiling at him. “The fantasy of you and me. I've always kind of had that, even as a teenager. But I know now how silly it is.”  
Even though her words were plain for even him to understand it took the Doctor a moment to actually grasp their meaning and then it hit him – hard. Clara actually wanted him. She had wanted him last night. Suddenly he seemed more confused than ever.  
“We have to stick together now, I guess, so funny business from either side would just complicate things,” she said, munching her cereal.

That reminded him of something he had considered the night before while he had dozed off on the sofa and it seemed like the perfect timing to bring it up.  
“I've been thinking about that,” the Doctor cleared his throat, “I think we should relocate.”  
Clara head shot around, frowning. “Relocate as in find another place to stay? Why? This seems ideal to me.”  
The Doctor gave her a light smile. “I was actually thinking about going to a different country. America or the European mainland.”  
He watched as her feature froze and Clara looked at him in shock as if he had suggested something utterly stupid. “No,” she said quietly after a while, “I want to stay here, in England.”  
“Think about it,” he prompted her, “If we went to France or Germany or Spain we wouldn't have to hide all the time. We could do it like we're doing it now, rent a small house or flat, but we could actually move around. I thought you liked travelling.”  
“I do,” she replied, still not over the shock of his suggestion even though the Doctor didn't fully understand what had shocked her in the first place, “But I need to be here.”  
“Why?” he asked her.  
Clara didn't say anything for the longest time but he watched as she took a couple of deep breaths before finally she spoke again. “I want to know who killed my father,” Clara replied determinedly, “And I want them dead.”  
The Doctor exhaled sharply, letting his head sink. He should have known she wouldn't give up so easily, he should have known the subject would come up again sooner or later.  
“Clara, there's still time,” he explained because he knew that telling her to forget about her revenge would lead nowhere, “Once we're out of reach for the people who are looking for you I can call Kate and ask if she knows something. But after Donna I don't want to risk it. I don't want you anywhere near Kate or any of the others.”  
“Why? You said she could be trusted,” Clara argued.  
“I said that, and I also said that about Donna and you know how that turned out. The key you have, it's a temptation,” the Doctor gently shook his head, “I'm not sure anyone would be able to resist.”  
“You are,” Clara said, staring straight at him, “Even _I_ want to go and get that deposit box because with the contents I could take revenge, I could find my father's killers and deal with them but you said no. Why?”  
“Because I have never wanted that sort of power, that many responsibilities!” the Doctor almost yelled at her, “And I know you wouldn't want them either. I have no plans, no ambitions, I just want to keep you out of danger!”  
Clara breathed in deeply, her eyes wandering around the room for a moment. She was considering _something_ , the Doctor only wished he knew what it was. If only she would drop the subject of revenge. As long as she tried to poke around the matters she was still in danger, _more_ danger.  
Finally Clara came to look at him again and from her eyes alone the Doctor could tell that she had made a decision. “If I come with you, will you promise to help me find my father's killer?”  
“And kill them?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
“No,” Clara said abruptly, “That is my call.”  
Not if he had any say in it.  
“Alright,” the Doctor found himself agreeing, even though he didn't mean it. He would deal with her anger later, first he had to get her out of the country, “We will go to France and we will find out who murdered your father.”  
“Promise?” she asked.  
“Promise,” he grumbled.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sooooo much for the comments :) And I'm sorry.

Clara would have picked a different destination after having been to France so many times but the Doctor had argued that he knew Paris well and they would just vanish in the streets of this bustling city. Grudgingly Clara had eventually agreed, knowing that she would only get what she wanted if the Doctor thought them to be safe. So they packed the few items of clothing they had into a bag and headed for Heathrow airport one week later. The place was crowded with people obviously on their way to visit relatives all over the world before or during Christmas and Clara sighed, thinking about her grandmother and how much she would loved to spend the holidays with her especially now. She made a mental note to call her later when there was still time.  
Right now Clara had other matters to worry about, like her fear of flying. She had been on a plane so many times in her life already and it never got easier, but at least she had a hand to hold this time.  
“Are you okay?” the Doctor suddenly tore her from her thoughts, “You look anxious.”  
Clara swallowed, looking up at him to see a similar expression on the Doctor's face. “I _am_ anxious. Flying _always_ makes me anxious. It's like my stomach twists into a knot and my head gets all fuzzy.”  
She breathed in and out, trying to calm her nerves until the Doctor gently placed his arm around her shoulder. No, not even that helped. “Don't worry about that. We'll be fine once we're on the plane.”  
Clara watched him as he let his gaze wander over the airport as if he was looking for something or someone.  
“Why are _you_ anxious?” she asked him.  
The Doctor took a long, deep breath, scanning their surroundings once more before he came to look at her. “Isn't it obvious?”  
“Not to me,” Clara frowned and tried very hard not to feel stupid for not knowing what was wrong now.  
“They're looking for us. I wouldn't be surprised if they watched the airports. This flight can't depart soon enough if you ask me,” he said gravely.  
“Well,” Clara threw in, her voice hopeful, “You said they suspected us in Leeds. So maybe they won't watch the airports here.”  
The Doctor let out a long, deep sigh. “Maybe you're right. At least I haven't seen a familiar face around,” he paused, turning to look her, “Nevertheless. Keep an eye open for anything that looks suspicious.”  
“Okay,” she agreed even though she doubted that they were in danger here, among these masses of people. The Doctor was probably just worrying unnecessarily.

Since they had arrived a lot earlier than expected there was still time until they had to go through the checks and so they decided to settle down at the only free table in a café and each of them ordered a large cup of coffee and a piece of cake to go with it. Clara didn't feel particularly hungry, her stomach already going crazy about the upcoming flight, but the Doctor had insisted that she needed to eat at least a little.  
“I'm glad you've agreed to come to Paris,” the Doctor said after a while, “I know you would rather stay here but, trust me, it's the right decision. We'll be safer there.”  
“I know,” Clara granted him a smile, “And I trust you. If you think it's the right thing, then we'll do it.”  
The Doctor's face turned into a broad grin. “Paris is going to be great. We can visit the Louvre and Notre Dame and all the things you want to see. Maybe we could even take trips to another city once we get a car.”  
Suddenly Clara started to laugh. “Are we going into hiding or on holiday? Cause this sounds a lot like a holiday to me.”  
He shrugged. “Why can't it be both?”  
And suddenly the realisation struck her and it made her smile all the more sincerely. “You're doing this because you think I need a distraction. To take my mind off everything bad that has happened.”  
The Doctor's features froze and now he looked almost guilty as he gave her a small nod as confirmation.  
“Thank you,” Clara said earnestly, “That's really sweet. I'm looking forward to Paris.”  
They finished their coffee and cake, talking about the things they had both already seen in Paris and those still on their bucket list. After they had risen to their feet the Doctor started to walk in the direction of the check-in, however Clara stayed behind, feeling uncomfortable yet again about the prospect of flying. The Doctor seemed to notice her hesitation quickly.  
“Is something wrong?” he asked her.  
Clara shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other and glanced at the board announcing the departure of flights. They still had time.  
“Would you mind if I went out to have a smoke before we go through the check-in?” she asked sheepishly.  
The Doctor's forehead turned into a frown. “I was hoping you had given up on that. I haven't seen you smoke since the first night.”  
“You haven't seen it,” he replied, biting her lip, “But I may have sneaked out of the house a few times.”  
He let out a long and heavy sigh and Clara knew she was in for a lecture about her health and bad habits, so she decided to stop him before he even had a chance to start.  
“And I want to call my grandma,” she added.  
“Clara, you can't tell her about Paris,” the Doctor urged her, “You would only put her in danger.”  
“I know that,” Clara said defensively, “I just want to talk to her. I'm not gonna tell her anything.”  
“I really wish we could just board this plane as quickly as possible,” he told her and Clara saw just how worried he was that something might happen. But they had been at the airport for an hour. If someone had seen them they would have gotten to them already by now. Finally, after she had given him her pleading look, the Doctor blew the air out between his teeth and agreed. 

Clara lit her cigarette as soon as she had reached the smoking area and inhaled deeply, the smoke in her lungs feeling oddly comforting as it always did. She just had to stop thinking about the flight and all would be fine. While she reached for her phone and dialled her grandmother's number the Doctor positioned himself a few steps away from her, looking around as if he was still scared about someone catching them. She knew that nothing would happen, that he would protect her even if he had dropped his gun before they had entered the airport. He would never let her down.  
“Clara, darling,” her grandmother greeted her lovingly, “How are you?”  
She sighed into the phone. “I'm alright, and you?”  
“Getting by. Are you still with your friends?”  
Clara wished she could just tell her grandmother. She would understand and maybe it would even make her feel better. But she knew that would only put her in danger. “Yeah, still with friends. I'm sorry. I wish I could be with you now.”  
“Nonsense,” her grandmother said strictly, “Stay where you are. There's nothing you can do here either. Be with your friends, let them cheer you up a little.”  
Clara nodded even though her grandmother couldn't see it.  
“Clara?!” the Doctor called her name in the distance. He sounded wary, so Clara decided to end the phone call.  
“Listen, I might not have reception for a bit but I'll call you as soon as I can, okay?” she said to her grandmother.  
“That's okay, sweetheart. Talk to you later,” her gran agreed.

Her words were hardly audible over the sound of an engine of a car that had pulled up at the bus stop next to her and Clara ended the phone call and turned around to where the Doctor had been standing moments ago. It took her too long to realize what was happening and by the time Clara had found the strength to set her feet in motion it had already happened. Two men dressed entirely in black had gotten to the Doctor, holding a piece of cloth over his face. She wanted to call out for them to stop, to let him go, but no sound came out of her. Clara stepped forward, unable to do anything as they hauled him into a van and right before the door closed she spotted Seb sitting in the back of the vehicle.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments :D So, what do you say? Is she gonna get her Doctor back?

Clara had never felt so powerless as she did at this moment. They had dragged the Doctor into a van, driving off before she had even had the chance to react. It had all happened so fast and now she could only memorize the number plate of the car before it turned around the corner, leaving her alone and helpless and feeling utterly lost.  
Missy's men had taken the Doctor, even though it was her that they probably wanted and that was when it dawned on her: it was all her fault. She had insisted on going outside once more, she had dawdled so she wouldn't have to get on the plane sooner than necessary even though the Doctor had urged her, and above all she had the key they were after.  
Clara took a deep breath and vowed to herself that she was going to get him back. Somehow. I didn't really matter. There was no way she would let them win. The Doctor had saved her life more than once, now she had to do the same thing in return. But when Clara turned around and headed back to her suitcase there was one simple question forming in her mind that suddenly made her determination crumble: How?  
Call the police? The Doctor had warned her that Missy might have spies there and maybe that was exactly what Missy wanted. She could be walking straight into a trap. Under normal circumstances, when faced with a problem she couldn't possibly solve on her own, Clara usually spoke with her dad or her grandmother, depending on the problem's nature – but this time even that was out of the question. So the next logical step was to turn to someone her father had trusted.  
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor had told her that she could be trusted, but he had also warned that the key in her possession was a temptation even Kate might not be able to resist. What would the Doctor do now? 

Clara inhaled sharply as she reached into the suitcase and retrieved the Doctor's phone. She knew what he would do. He would do anything in his power to help her and so Clara was going to do the exact same thing. She searched for the name in his contact list an dialled. 

“Lethbridge-Stewart?”  
Clara hesitated. If she did this there was no way back, she would be at this woman's mercy. But on her own she would never get the Doctor back. “This is Clara Oswald,” she replied after a moment.  
The woman on the other end of the line went silent for a long while before she finally replied. “I'm glad to hear you're okay,” Kate Stewart said and to Clara she sounded sincere, “I was worried that you would be in trouble after what has happened to your father. We were friends for a long time so if there's anything I can do for you-”  
“I am in trouble,” Clara interrupted her breathlessly, “They've taken the Doctor.”  
She looked around nervously but she couldn't spot anyone else around who might overhear their conversation. It seemed safe to talk freely.  
“Who did?” Kate demanded to know.  
“Missy,” Clara replied, “I recognized one of her men. It was the same one that tried to attack us once before. I need your help. We need to get him back.”  
The woman on the phone paused for a moment. “Where are you right now?”  
“I'm at the airport. Heathrow,” she explained.  
“You need to get away from there right away. If that's where they took the Doctor they might be coming after you next. Do you know where the Thames House is?” Kate asked urgently.  
Clara swallowed. Of course she knew where the MI5 headquarters were, she just had never expected to be invited there. “Yes,” she replied.  
“Do you have a car or do you want someone to pick you up?”  
“No, I have a car. I can drive there,” she answered. At least that way she still had time to reconsider her options before handing herself over.  
“Good,” Kate Stewart said, “I'll get you a security clearing. Ask for Kate Stewart once you arrive.”  
“I will,” Clara confirmed even though she wasn't so sure of that yet before the line went dead.  
Clara grabbed her suitcase and headed back towards the exit. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart had seemed nice enough and above all sincere. But maybe that was a trap, too? Maybe once she arrived at the MI5 headquarters they would take the key away from her and decide to do nothing whatsoever about the Doctor. But there was only one way to find out and she couldn't think of a single person that would or could help her get the Doctor back. He was the only person she trusted now. She had to try.

After a little detour Clara parked her car as instructed and a security employee of the headquarters escorted her along the corridors of the large building until he pointed at an office door. Once inside Clara spotted only one other person: a tall woman with blonde hair, dressed in an impeccable suit. Without doubt she knew that she was standing in front of Kate Stewart and from the suit and the office alone Clara could tell that she was an important person within the MI5.  
“Hello Clara,” Kate greeted her with a warm smile and approached her immediately. Her handshake was firm. “How are you doing?”  
“Up until two hours ago quite well under the circumstances,” she replied coldly.  
“I'm sorry about your father,” her voice was sincere yet again. Maybe Clara really had made the right decision to come here. “We've known each other for a long time, worked together. I'm sure that by now you know what he did. The Doctor will have told you. And I must say that his death is a loss not only on a personal level but also for this country. He was a good man.”  
Kate paused, her gaze shifting to her feet for a brief second before she looked straight at Clara again. “I've recently lost my own father, so I can relate to what you're going through. If you ever need to talk-”  
“I'm not here to talk,” Clara interrupted her brusquely, “I'm here because I want to get the Doctor back. Missy took him and it was my fault, so I have to do something.”  
Suddenly Kate's eyes wandered away from her face and got caught on the key that Clara hadn't even noticed was showing from under her blouse. She quickly moved to tuck it away.  
“We will,” Kate promised her after a moment, “We'll do everything in our power to do that.”  
“Good,” Clara said, straightening her shoulders after she had caught Kate looking for the key once more, “When do we start?”  
Suddenly the smile was back on Kate's face, but it had changed. Now it seemed sad, almost regretful. “First you have to talk about what you can do for me in return.”  
Clara swallowed hard. She knew exactly what Kate was going to ask of her and it would be the only thing Clara wasn't willing to give.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments, babes!!!

His head was throbbing when he came to and for a moment the Doctor was sure that he would throw up. He swallowed the impulse and moved around only to find his one foot a little heavier than usual. As he opened his eyes the first thing he spotted was the outline of a women inspecting her fingernails.  
“Never took you for one to sleep in, Doctor,” Missy said absent-mindedly, not taking her eyes off her nails.  
The Doctor glanced around the room that looked a lot like a prison cell to him and soon found that his leg was chained to the wall. No way to get it off. At least not while he was guarded by Missy.  
“That seems a bit old fashioned,” he commented, trying to sit up despite his headache. Whatever she had used to drug him it seemed very effective and long lasting. He had no idea how much time had passed. And then his mind wandered back to Clara and suddenly he was highly alert again. Where was she? What had they done with her? Had they taken her as well?  
“Well, I _am_ old fashioned,” finally Missy turned to look at him, smiling broadly and the Doctor wished he could just wipe that look off her face.  
“Where's Clara?” he asked sharply, “What have you done with her?”  
The smile didn't fade from her face. “Nothing,” Missy shrugged, “We haven't touched your precious Clara at all. I told my boys to get _you_ , not her.”  
The Doctor frowned at his old friend. Just how their friendship could have lasted so long he couldn't tell. He felt nothing but hatred for Missy now. “Then you're stupid,” he spat, “I don't have what you want.”  
Missy laughed. “And how would _you_ know what I want? It's not like you ever asked,” she paused, looking down at him. The Doctor suspected that she must enjoy feeling superior for once because she certainly looked like she did. “For the record: I wanted Clara on her own. I wanted to see what she would do next after we took away her bodyguard and adviser.”  
He snorted. “Well, unfortunately for you Clara is a smart girl. She will have boarded her flight. You will never see her again.”

Missy didn't speak for a long moment. Instead she reached into the pocket of her jacket and drew out her lipstick, applying it on her mouth before she looked at him again. “Well, it's obviously that you don't know her half as well as you think,” she replied matter-of-factly, “Because I happen to know that she missed her flight. _And_ I know where she is now.”  
“Where is she?!” the Doctor bellowed and launched forward, only to be reminded of his shackles once more.  
Missy grinned at him from a safe distance. “Now, now,” he tutted, “That would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it?”  
She turned around and headed towards the door, leaving the Doctor alone with his thoughts and worries. Missy was planning something and he hated not knowing what that was. There had been a time when he had known her so well, when he could have predicted her every move – or at least that was what he told himself. Now the Doctor had no clue what was going to happen next. All he knew was that he needed to get away and prevent Clara from doing something potentially stupid. He needed to protect her and only now he realized how miserably he was failing at that.

* * *

Clara turned the key around between her fingers, admiring the shape and the shininess for a long moment as she was lying on her bed. She felt dead tired because despite the comfortable mattress of a five start hotel she hadn't slept for a single moment. She couldn't sleep. Not while she knew the Doctor was in danger. Not when he wasn't lying next to her. Kate would help her get him back, she had promised her that she would personally lead the operation to find him and only bring in her most skilled and trusted men. But at what price?  
The price was what Clara was holding in her hand. The key to her father's bank deposit box. She would do it, but on her own terms. Anything to get the Doctor back. Without him Clara was lost. She considered herself lucky that Kate had only suggested handing over the key and promised Clara her help in return, not taken it by force which, Clara realised, she could have done easily. Kate had even granted Clara a night to consider it but there were security guards stationed in front of her hotel room now, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. It was an imaginary choice at best because in the end Clara was sure that Kate would just take what she wanted. Even in her decency Kate hadn't been able to resist. 

When the alarm clock went off, switching from 6:59 to 7:00, Clara rose from her bed. She had showered and changed her clothes an hour ago, only waiting for Kate to finally start her work day before she headed out to be greeted by her security guards. They looked as tired as she felt.  
“Take me back to the headquarters,” she ordered them without wishing them a good morning first and they escorted her back to the car.  
Less than half an hour later Clara marched into Kate's office, determined to get her Doctor back as quickly as possible.  
“Oh, good morning, Clara,” Kate greeted her in a friendly manner, “I didn't expect you so early.”  
“I've made up my mind. You can have the key,” Clara said determinedly, glad to get it off her chest, “But I have conditions.”  
Kate gestured towards a chair as she sat down, but Clara refused. She was small and only this way she could for once tower over Kate. Clara needed to convince her that she still had the upper hand, even though Kate could just order her men to take the key from her.  
“What do you have in mind?” Kate asked her patiently, smiling at her, “Please, don't be so hostile. I'm not going to harm you and I'm willing to accept any terms you have if they end in both of us getting what we want.”  
Her calm voice reassured Clara a little and finally, after a moment of hesitation, she sat down at the opposite side of the table.  
“You can have the key _after_ we've found the Doctor. Once we're both safe I will hand it over to you,” Clara said, “But not earlier. I need to make sure you do everything you can to free him.”  
Kate nodded. “That seems reasonable.”  
“And,” Clara added, “I want to be there. I want to be part of the mission every step of the way.”  
The woman in front of her sighed. “That's not necessary, Clara. My team is fully qualified and I will personally oversee the operation. There's no need to put yourself in danger. Your father wouldn't have approved.”  
“But your father was okay with you being in danger?” she cocked an eyebrow.  
“My father had this position before me. He raised me to follow in his footsteps. You don't even know how to fire a weapon and, make no mistake, Clara, there's a good chance it will come to that.”  
“Teach me then,” Clara prompted her.

There was a moment of silence as her words hung in the air and it took Kate a moment before she eventually nodded in agreement.  
“I need you to know that I don't want the key for my own personal gain,” she said sincerely, looking straight at Clara, “I just want things to stay the way they are. Your father did an _excellent_ job running the organisation and he will be a tough act to follow. But the contents of this box can't fall into the hands of the wrong people. You have no idea how much damage it could do to the entire country and part of my job is to keep this country safe. I admired your father and he was friend and I would never do anything he wouldn't have approved of with the knowledge he accumulated. I hope you understand that.”  
Clara hadn't even considered that. She had just assumed that everyone would be after the power the contents of her father's deposit box could provide them with, she would never have suspected Kate to be an exception. She just wanted to make sure people like Missy never go their hands on it. Too bad it collided with her own plans for revenge.  
“I understand,” Clara reassured her.  
“Good,” Kate smiled at her, “Do you have any other conditions?”  
Clara shook her head.  
“Then let's go and meet the team. See if we can find a match for your number plate,” she said as she rose from her chair and walked towards the door. Clara had no other choice but to follow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments :) Now, will they finally free him from Missy's clutches before something bad happens?

Clara had fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion the following night and yet her sleep had still been restless. She had kept waking up, looking for the Doctor only to not find him next to her. Wherever he was now she hoped he was well, that they wouldn't hurt him. Clara couldn't bear the thought that he might suffer because of her, not after everything that had already happened.  
She was still tired but repeatedly hitting the punching bag in the MI5's gym and training centre felt good. They had showed her how to operate a gun and even though Clara had missed the target more often than she had hit it somehow it still made her feel safer and more in control of the situation that was continuing to slip from her grasp. Kate was the only one that talked to her, that answered her questions and she couldn't know whether what she told her was true or not. She had to trust her.  
Clara had almost laughed at her own thoughts, a bitter, cynical laugh. There was one man and _only_ one man she trusted now and he was Missy's captive. She was going to get him back whatever it took. She was lost without him. She _needed_ him.  
“I think that's enough,” her trainer, a very masculine and strong looking woman with short hair, reminded her, “You should take a break.”  
Clara punched harder against the bag, sending it flying through the air only to have it come back at her with more force. “I decide when it's time for a break,” she growled.  
Suddenly the gym door flung open and a tall man in security uniform entered, looking straight at Clara. “Kate Stewart would like a word with you,” he said in a low and bored voice that told her he was probably as fed up as she was.  
Clara reached for her towel and wiped the sweat off her face before she approached him. “Fine, let's go,” she said but as she tried to pass him the man held out a hand to stop her.  
“You might wanna freshen up first.”  
She was ready to shout at him in her impatience but judging by the look on his face she knew that it wouldn't help her in any way, so instead of leaving the gym she headed for the shower room where for the first time since she had left her hotel room this morning she was on her own. Clara inhaled sharply before she stepped under the cool running water, trying to tell herself that if Kate wanted to speak with her she probably had news about the Doctor. Maybe they would finally do something to actually try and find him.

The security guard didn't lead her back to Kate's office, instead she found herself standing in a computer lab a while later and Kate was waving at her to come and look at one of the screens.  
“We have found the owner of the car with the number plate you described. Sorry, we didn't get around to it earlier but with the state of the world these days we get possible terror threat alerts every five minutes,” Kate nodded towards the screen.  
All Clara could see was a map. “So?”  
“His name is Sidney Zimmerman, born 1964, he is married with three children and works at a hardware store. He's got an impeccable record, no crimes and offences, just a couple of parking tickets,” she explained to her and the employee sitting at the computer enlarged a picture of the man in question.  
“He wasn't one of the men involved. Unless he was the one driving. But he doesn't sound like a kidnapper to me,” Clara said doubtfully after listening to Kate's description of him.  
“Every criminal starts with a clean record at some point and just because there aren't any crimes listed doesn't mean he never committed one. Maybe he just wasn't caught. There is, however, another thing.”  
Kate hesitated, making Clara turn around to look at her. Her face was unreadable.  
“What is it?” she inquired.  
“He recently rented an empty warehouse in an industrial area across the city and with recently I mean he did it last week.”  
Clara's heart skipped a beat. She had read enough crime novels to know that a warehouse in such a zone was the perfect spot to hold someone captive. She knew it. She just knew that that was where they would find the Doctor.  
“So that's where the Doctor is right now,” Clara couldn't help but smile. She would see him again soon. Everything was going to be fine. However Kate did not return her smile. “What are we waiting for? We should go and get him!”  
Kate took a deep breath and suddenly Clara started to like that look on her face less with every second that passed.  
“What's wrong? Why are you not doing anything?” she asked warily, trying very hard not to let her insecurity show.  
“It's too easy,” she replied simply, “I know Missy, I've dealt with her before and this is not her style. To kidnap a man and hide him in a building that legally belongs to the same man that owns the car that was used in the kidnapping – it's amateurish, it's not her. Missy knows we would find him within a day or two. This stinks.”  
“But it doesn't hurt to check it out,” Clara argued angrily even though she could see the reason behind Kate's argument, “If the Doctor _really_ is there-”  
“I think that's exactly where he is, Clara, but I also think that it's a trap.”  
“A trap for what?” she yelled, “They've already got him!”  
“For me, _for you_. Who knows what Missy wants but my guess is that the Doctor wasn't her target at all. Not if she makes it so easy for us to locate him,” Kate said sharply and Clara's heart sank. She was right. She was absolutely right. It was too easy. If it had been up to Clara to plan a crime, even as an amateur, she probably wouldn't have made a mistake like that.  
“So what do we do?” she asked, “How do we get him without stepping right into Missy's trap?”  
Kate inhaled sharply. “I would send a small team to investigate the area, to snoop around, to watch the building for 24 hours and see who comes and who goes, see what kind of security they have. Then we can make better plans as to how we get him out.”  
“So we would just leave him there for another day?!”  
“It is the safest option, even for him,” Kate said gently, “Who knows what we're going to find there? What if Missy has stationed half an army around the building? It's not just about our safety but the Doctor's as well.”  
Clara sighed and finally, after realizing that Kate was right in everything she had said, she nodded. It wasn't as if she had another option or could get him on her own. She had to trust Kate however hard it was.

* * *

The Doctor woke up with a start when a cold splash of water hit his face and he tore his eyes open to see Missy standing above him, laughing.  
“This is so much fun, Doctor, you should try it some time,” she giggled like a school girl, “It's almost like having a pet.”  
He shook his hair out, trying to stop the water from running down his face before he noticed a change in his range of movements. The shackle around his foot was gone, instead his hands were tied on his back in what felt like standard handcuffs.  
“I liked the other one better. At least I was able to eat,” he spat at her, “What are you gonna do now? Spoon-feed me?”  
Missy grinned at him. “Wouldn't that be fun?” she asked happily but then her entire posture changed, “No, silly, I just wanted to show you something. Don't look so shocked, it's a nice surprise. You'll have your feet chained to the wall again soon enough. Follow me!”  
“Has anyone ever told you that you're insane?” the Doctor grumbled as he scrambled to his feet and followed her out of the room.

He soon realized that it was the only one designed as a prison cell and that the rest of the building was an ordinary warehouse. If he made a run for it, how far would he get? He and Missy were the only people within sight but who knew how many men she had stationed elsewhere. He needed to get back to Clara but if he did something rash and got caught Missy would just make it harder for him to escape. He needed a plan and he hated plans. The Doctor knew he was better when he improvised, so maybe he should just go for it?  
“Look out there,” Missy had stopped in front of an open window and pointed outside.  
The Doctor reluctantly followed her. They were on the ground floor. If he jumped he would get away with bruises and scratches – unless he landed extremely unfavourably. Then it could end in a broken neck. But even if he was willing to take that chance he still needed his hands free to propel him over the windowsill.  
“You're not looking,” Missy scolded him, giving him a soft whack across the back of his head before she pointed into the distance again.  
He couldn't see what she where she was pointing at first until he spotted movement. Someone was out there.  
“Your friends from the MI5 are slower than I had expected but don't get your hopes up. It's only a small team, probably scouts, calculating the chances of getting you out safely,” Missy hummed absent-mindedly, “And those are the people in charge of the internal security of this country,” she snorted, “Laughable. They're like slugs.”  
The thoughts ran wild inside his head. If the MI5 was here that could only mean one thing: Clara had contacted Kate Stewart even though he had told her not to. And he didn't need a lot of imagination to know what Kate would want in exchange for her help.  
“Clara, what have you done?” the Doctor whispered to himself, trying to find a way for him to stop this madness before it happened if it wasn't too late already. She should have gotten on that plane and left him where he was.  
“Oh, I just realized we're being incredibly rude. Wave, Doctor! _Whohooooooo!_ ” Missy shouted cheerfully and raised her warm to wave in the agent's direction and suddenly she burst into laughter and nudged him. “Sorry, Doc, I had forgotten that you can't.”  
She turned away from the window and laid her hand around his back, making the Doctor flinch at the sudden contact. He hated being touched, except by Clara. He missed Clara, he worried about her and he had to get back to her somehow. She needed him.  
Slowly Missy was starting to lead him back to his cell.  
“Tell me,” she said after a while, “What would you do if I let them free you and captured your little girlfriend instead?”  
“Clara isn't my girlfriend,” he hissed sharply, glaring right at her, “And I would never allow you to touch her! You will never lay a hand on her and if you do you will lose that hand!”  
Missy giggled as she pushed him back into his cell. “Not your girlfriend, eh? There was a time when you were that protective of me, too.”  
She shut the door right in his face but he could still heard her laugh on the other side of it. “Sweet dreams about your girlfriend, Doctor,” she teased before her footsteps echoed across the room and eventually vanished completely, leaving the Doctor entirely on his own. He had very little time to escape and save Clara from whatever deal she had made with Kate.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you soooo much for the comments, guys :) And I'm sorry.

“She waved at them!”  
“Clara, please, calm down,” Kate said in an irritatingly quiet manner and it was driving her insane. The reports had come in yesterday already and nobody had told Clara they had seen the Doctor up until a moment ago. They could have freed him already but Kate was still hesitant.  
“I will not calm down,” Clara yelled furiously, “You know the Doctor is in there and you've seen only Missy and one other man around. We can get him out! You know we can!”  
“It's a trap!” Kate replied more loudly now, “I don't know what Missy is up to but I know it's not a good thing. We need to be careful.”  
Clara was ready to yell some more but instead decided that talking would lead them nowhere now. They had to act.  
“Fine,” she spat and reached for the gun that was lying on the table beside her, “You can stay here and sit on your hands. I'll do it on my own.”  
Clara turned to leave until she felt Kate's hand on her shoulder.  
“Clara-”  
“No,” she said determinedly and shot back around to glare at Kate. She was done sitting around, doing nothing. She was done with all of it. “I'll do it with or without your help. But if you want the key you'll come with me now or you will never see it again.”  
That was what seemed to make Kate reconsider as she looked at Clara for a long moment, sighing.  
“Give me 30 minutes to put a team together and organise a car,” Kate said eventually.  
Clara took a deep breath. “I'll take my own car, thanks. I'll wait for you in the parking lot,” she said before she stomped off in the direction of the exit. She couldn't wait any longer. The Doctor needed her help.

* * *

The Doctor cursed as he pushed his own foot away from himself. He had been trying to open the damn shackles almost all night to no avail. He couldn't do it, not without a tool. Usually he kept a small screwdriver in his jacket pocket for emergencies but Missy had known of course and she had taken it from him.  
Suddenly the door burst open and the Doctor almost jumped up in surprise as Missy appeared in the doorway, a smug smile on her face.  
“I'm afraid this was your last night in here,” she said sweetly, “I hope you enjoyed your stay but it seems as if your friends are coming to get you any minute now.”  
The Doctor glared at her. He had known this woman since their childhood and yet he still couldn't tell what her original plan was. Not his capture, that was for sure, because if that was so she wouldn't let him go so easily.  
“What are you up to?” he growled, “Why did you kidnap me only to have them free me now?”  
Missy chuckled. “Confusing, isn't it? But trust me, you will know very, very soon. Anyway, I should be on my way. Of course, you can keep trying to get the shackles off, or you can just wait another hour. Won't take too long. See ya!”  
“Did you kill David Oswald?” the Doctor asked while she was already turning away from him. However Missy stopped in her movement and looked at him once more.  
She shrugged. “Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. It doesn't matter. The outcome is the same.”  
The door closed again and the Doctor was able to hear some shuffling on the other side, even though he didn't know what exactly was happening. Then everything went silent.

* * *

They stopped right in front of the building and Clara instantly noticed that there was no other car around except the MI5 vehicles and her own. In fact, no one seemed to be around at all – the building appeared to be deserted.  
“What's the status?” Kate demanded to know.  
One of the men in charge of watching the building stepped up to her. “Missy and the man in her company have left the warehouse an hour ago. No one else has entered. If the Doctor is still in there, he's in there alone.”  
“Good, let's go on then,” Clara suggested and started to move in the direction of the entrance.  
“Surround the building and secure the exits anyway, just to be safe,” Clara heard Kate tell her men behind her back before the woman followed her.  
Even though Kate asked to lead the way it was Clara who went ahead, impatient to finally see the Doctor again. She hoped he was well, that they hadn't hurt him. If they had she would never be able to forgive herself.  
Clara walked through a long corridor with doors to her left and right. At the end she could see a larger hall and there was no one around, no other sound than their own footsteps.  
“Doctor?!” she called out, “Doctor, can you hear me?! It's Clara!”  
At first there was no reply. And then she finally heard his voice and Clara could feel a weight drop away from her shoulders and her heart fluttered wildly in relief when she finally knew he was okay.  
“Clara! I'm in here!”  
She ran along the rest of the corridor until she came to a halt in front of the door behind which she had heard his voice – and stopped, waiting until Kate had caught up with her.  
“What the hell is that?” Clara asked quietly as she pointed to the door.

_Thanks for letting me borrow him. XXX Missy_

There was a small note pinned to the door and below that Clara saw a key firmly taped to the metal. An even smaller note right next to it simply read “shackles”.  
“A trap,” Kate breathed, frowning at the post-its.  
Clara hesitated for a moment. Even she could see that something wasn't quite right.  
“Doesn't matter,” she determined eventually and tore the key off the door before she stepped inside.  
The Doctor was sitting on a mattress, his foot chained to the wall but other than that he seemed unharmed and when he saw her his face lit up. Clara couldn't hold back. She darted forward, sank down on the mattress and threw his arms around him in a tight embrace. For the first time the Doctor was actually eager to hug her back. It felt so awfully good to have him back that for a moment she forgot about everything else.  
“My Clara,” he whispered into her ear while they still hugged, “You shouldn't have come. You should've gone to France like we had planned.”  
Clara only now realized that they were tears streaming over her cheeks, tears of happiness. She had him back. He was okay. Everything was going to be fine.  
She pulled away from the embrace to look at him and right now she couldn't imagine ever wanting to look away from him ever again. “You silly man,” she laughed through her tears, “I'm not going anywhere without you.”  
When he didn't reply Clara bent down to undo his shackles with the key she had found on the door. Again she wondered for a moment why Missy would make it so easy for them but right now it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that she and the Doctor were reunited. 

She helped him up into a standing position but once they had both turned around Clara stared straight into the barrel of Kate's gun. She froze instantly.  
“I've kept my end of the promise,” Kate said coldly, “Now you have to do the same. Hand over the key and I'll let you both go.”  
“No way,” the Doctor replied sharply before Clara even could and he swiftly walked up and positioned himself in front of her protectively.  
“That's not your decision to make, Doctor,” Kate reminded him, keeping her weapon aimed straight at him, “Clara and I made a deal. The key in exchange for my help in finding you.”  
“No,” he replied calmly, taking another step in Kate's direction. Clara reached for his hand to hold him back but he wouldn't let her get a hold on him, “I won't allow it.”  
“Doctor, please,” Clara begged him but he ignored her.  
Clara heard Kate sigh. “Clara and I discussed this. She knows I will not do anything her father wouldn't have done but I need this key. I need to protect my country from people like Missy,” she raised her voice, “I cannot let it fall into the wrong hands! I just can't!”  
“Doctor!” Clara tried to gain his attention, tried to make him give in to Kate.  
“No.”  
The silence between them seemed to last for an eternity until it was brutally ripped apart by the sound of a shot being fired and Clara's screaming as the Doctor sank to the floor.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I'm sorry for the cliffhanger but I'm not :D Thank you so much for the comments and I hope I can make it up to you with the ending to this one.

“Doctor!” Clara cried out as she sank down with him, unable to hold him up as the blood stain on his trouser leg grew. He was shaking in her arms, his face a grimace of pain. She had no idea what to do.  
“He'll live,” Kate told her, her voice void of any emotion, “The bullet only grazed his leg.”  
“Why did you shoot him?!” Clara yelled angrily before her gaze wandered back to the Doctor. He was in so much pain and she was powerless to do anything about it.  
“Give me the key and I'll call an ambulance,” Kate said and when Clara looked at her it was as if she had never seen the woman before. “Give it to me or I'll take it.”  
Clara reached for the key and ripped it off her neck.  
“Clara,” the Doctor grunted weakly, “Don't.”  
“Shut up!” she told him right before she threw the key at Kate's feet. The woman bent down to pick it up before she stuck the gun back into her holster.  
“I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this,” she apologized, “Bind something around his leg. The ambulance will be here shortly.”

As soon as Kate's steps had vanished the Doctor started to groan in pain as if he hadn't wanted to show weakness in front of her. Now it seemed he couldn't hold back any longer. _Bind something around his leg._ Something. Anything.  
Clara took off her scarf and leaned forward, fastening it around the leaking wound. What if the ambulance wasn't fast enough? He was losing so much blood.  
“You shouldn't have,” he groaned when the fabric was tightened around his wound, “Given it to her.”  
“Shut up,” Clara repeated breathlessly and took his leg even though he protested, lifting it above his chest. Stop the blood flow. That was what she needed to do.  
“No,” he panted, “We have to get it back.”  
“Not now. We have to get you to a hospital,” she told him calmly. She just prayed that they could get away before Kate realized what Clara had done.  
The Doctor cleared his throat and tried to sit up. “Not a hospital. They'll catch us,” he groaned again, “Do you have the car here?”  
“Yes,” Clara said but tried to push him back down, “But you need medical attention.”  
“Take me to the car. I know where to go.”  
Seeing as all her protests wouldn't do any good Clara eventually helped him into a standing position. He couldn't walk, not on his own so she let him lean on her shoulder with almost his full weight as they slowly made their way out of the room.

The walk back to the car seemed endless and Clara noticed that soon the blood began dripping from her scarf to the floor.  
“I'll be fine,” the Doctor panted weakly as if sensing her worry somehow, “I have a friend. A nurse. He'll patch me up.”  
Clara helped him down the steps. They were almost at the car. They just had to make it. In the distance she could hear sirens of an ambulance car just as she lowered him into the passenger seat. Clara thought she saw relief on his face once he was sitting down again.  
“Don't you dare die on me,” she told him strictly, “You will not die!”  
Finally the Doctor cracked a smile. “Don't you worry. I'll be fine. It looks like a lot of blood but it's not.”  
She wasn't sure whether she should believe him. His face was the colour of ash by now. As the sirens drew closer Clara shut the passenger door and hurried over to the driver's seat. While Clara was still buckling up the Doctor leaned forward and started typing an address into the sat nav. She noticed how his hands were shaking.  
Finally he leaned back into the seat with a sigh. “Drive there. Amy and Rory,” he paused, catching his breath, “They're friends.”  
“Can we trust them?” Clara asked. She had a hard time trusting anyone after Donna and Kate. When the Doctor finally nodded Clara pushed the gas pedal to the ground.

The drive took over an hour and Clara knew that on the passenger seat the Doctor slipped in and out of consciousness, either from blood loss or from pain – she couldn't tell. She tried to keep him talking but it was no use. A few times, whenever they passed a sign pointing towards a hospital, Clara reconsidered her options. She was so scared that she might lose him, it almost drove her mad. Then they left the city and there were no more hospital signs in sight. The Doctor just had to make it.  
“Turn right and in 300 metres your destination will be on the right,” the sat nav said and Clara breathed in relief as she came to a halt in front of a seemingly ordinary house in a small village. Everything was dark except for the light in a single room.  
“Doctor, we're here,” she said quietly but he didn't respond.  
Not knowing what else to do Clara jumped out of the car and ran up to the door, ringing the bell and banging against the wood as loudly as she possibly could.  
“I'm coming! Stop the noise!” a Scottish sounding woman yelled from the other side of the door and a few seconds later Clara stared into the face of a young woman with long, red hair.  
“Who are you?” she asked in confusion, staring down at Clara.  
“The Doctor has been shot! He's in the car!” Clara blurted out.  
“Rory! Come quickly!” the woman yelled into the house shortly before a young man appeared by the door as well.  
After Clara had briefly explained what had happened Rory ran off in the direction of the car and with combined strength they somehow managed to drag the Doctor inside. He mumbled something while she and Rory carried him into the house but Clara couldn't understand.  
“Hello to you, too,” Rory laughed, “Don't worry, you've had worse injuries.”  
Their light-heartedness somehow managed to calm Clara's nerves as they dropped him on a bed in one of the downstairs rooms. However when Rory unfastened the scarf and ripped his trousers open Clara gasped.  
“It looks bad but it isn't,” the Scottish woman said behind her, her voice calm and gentle as she placed her hand on Clara's shoulder, “Come into the kitchen. I'll make us a cup of tea.”  
Clara looked back at the Doctor. Maybe she should stay with him instead?  
“The Doctor is in good hands. My husband is a nurse. He'll be fine,” she reassured her and finally Clara decided to follow the redhead. 

Clara sat down at the kitchen table and was glad to have something to hold on to once a cup of tea was pushed in her direction. The woman sat down in front of her, smiling so kindly that it warmed Clara's heart. Kindness was a rare thing these days, she thought.  
“I'm Amy,” she said with a soft smile, “And Rory's my husband. We've known the Doctor for a long time. Don't worry, you will be safe here.”  
“I'm Clara,” she replied quietly.  
“I know. Well, I guessed.”  
Clara's faced turned into a frown. “You're a part of the organisation, too?”  
Amy shook her head. “No. What I know about you is what the Doctor told me. He used to speak a lot about you when he was still driving you to school. But he said you have the biggest eyes he has ever seen on such a tiny person. It had to be you.”  
They both laughed at that and it felt good, so good to be somewhere safe and just have that tiny moment of joy despite everything.  
“You can stay here for as long as you like but I insist that you stay at least for Christmas. I haven't seen the Doctor in over a year, he owes us some quality time,” Amy smiled.  
“How do you know the Doctor?” Clara asked curiously.  
Amy laughed once more. “He crashed his car in my aunt's garden when I was a kid.”  
“He did _what?_ ”  
“He was on a mission, on the run, and while he tried to hide his car from his pursuer he drove into our garden. Crashed into our shed with the headlights off. His pursuer drove off. Probably hadn't even seen him in our yard. He stayed with me all night because I was home alone for the first time and scared out of my senses about monsters under my bed and stuff like that,” Amy giggled, “He has been a friend ever since.”  
Clara smiled. “That sounds like him.”  
They sat in the kitchen for a while, talking, drinking their tea. Clara explained why they were on the run and Amy nodded understandingly, again promising that the Doctor would be fine once Rory had patched him up and slowly but surely Clara began to feel the adrenaline wane from her body, leaving her dead tired. Eventually Rory stepped back into the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel.  
“How is he?” Clara asked instantly.  
“All bandaged up,” Rory explained, “I gave him something for the pain. He'll sleep through the night. He'll be as good as new soon.”  
“Oh, thank God,” Clara sighed happily.  
“I'll prepare you the other guest room,” Amy rose from her chair, making Clara turn back around.  
“No need. I just wanna be with the Doctor now.”

Amy looked surprised but she didn't argue as Clara made her way back into the guest bedroom the Doctor was occupying. He looked peaceful now with his eyes closed after the pain medication had started to work.  
Clara dropped her jacket on a nearby chair and crawled under the blankets next to him, wrapping her arm tightly around the Doctor. She had missed him so much. She had missed being close to him. Carefully she rested her head on his chest and to her surprise the Doctor started to stir, closing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her even closer.  
“I'm so glad you're okay,” she whispered.  
He chuckled lightly. “Me too,” he replied.  
Clara looked up at him and saw him smiling in the moonlight. She couldn't help herself. She lifted herself up an brought their lips together in a soft kiss. Clara had expected the Doctor to pull away or scold her. What she hadn't expected was that he parted his lips and leaned in further to their kiss.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments!!! Now let's stop with the cliffhangers for a bit and let them be happy, ok?

The Doctor opened his eyes and felt a rush of happiness to find Clara still sleeping in his arms. The pain in his leg had calmed down to a dull ache thanks to the medication but he knew that it would only really get better over time. The most important thing was that he was with Clara again – and that they somehow got the key back. Oh God, the key. How would they ever manage that in time now that he was injured?  
Clara let out a tired, soft moan in his arms as she opened her eyes to look at him and a smile spread across her lips when she saw him.  
“Did I mention I'm glad to have you back?” she asked sleepily.  
He chuckled. “Not as glad as I am. But the key-”  
“Is safe,” Clara finished his sentence, her smile turning into a large grin.  
The Doctor frowned at her in response. “You handed it to Kate. I admit, she's the best of all possible options but I wouldn't call it safe.”  
“No, you don't get it,” she giggle happily as she scrambled into a sitting position, smiling down at him, “I didn't give her the key. Not the real one at least.”  
It seemed that his frown only deepened. He didn't understand.  
“When they took you,” Clara went on to explain, “I knew the only option of getting you back was Kate but you had told me that she would be after the key, too. So before I went to the MI5 I made a little detour to a locksmith and had a duplicate made. One that looked like it but wouldn't fit. I hid the original in my bra padding.”  
The Doctor could do nothing but stare at her in amazement.  
“Don't look so shocked. Have you ever been to a club? If you had you'd know how much you can hide in a-”  
He interrupted her sentence when he pulled her head down to meet him for another kiss. It was less chaste than the one they had shared the previous night but he didn't care. He just wanted to kiss her right now.  
“Clara Oswald,” he said breathlessly when their lips parted, “You are the cleverest woman on this entire planet.”  
The Doctor kissed her again and again and he didn't want to stop at all. Even though he knew it wasn't right he just couldn't help it. Right now he loved her more than he had loved anything else in his entire life.  
However when they finally pulled away from each other for good Clara's expression grew more serious.  
“What did Missy want?” she asked him quietly, “Why did she kidnap you only to make it so easy for us to get you back?”  
The Doctor blew the breath out between his teeth. He had asked himself that same question over and over again and, knowing Missy, he finally thought he had at least part of the answer.  
“I think she wanted to prove a point,” he replied gravely, “That no one can be trusted. Not Donna, not Kate. That anyone can be bought if you offer the right price.”  
“Why?” Clara asked curiously.  
He sighed as he sank back into the pillows. “I don't know. I really don't.”  
There was a careful knock on the door and Clara turned her head towards the door as the Doctor told them to come in. It was Rory who stuck his head through the crack.  
“Breakfast is ready. How's the patient doing this morning?” he asked.  
“Not bleeding to death thanks to you,” the Doctor joked.  
“I'll leave you some crutches by the door,” he explained, “Will be a while before you can fully use the leg again.”  
When the door closed again the Doctor let out a groan and sank deeper into his pillow. “Crutches,” he complained, “Like an old man. I am the worst bodyguard there is.”  
“No, you're not,” Clara chuckled next to him, “I'm still alive, aren't I?”  
The Doctor looked back at her and knew she was right. At least he had done _that_ right, even though he should have never let Clara put herself in danger and it wouldn't happen again. 

She retrieved the crutches for him and helped him out of bed before they both slowly made their way into the kitchen. The Doctor only realized how hungry he was once he found himself sitting in front of a large breakfast menu. Eagerly he reached for a croissant.  
“I'm sorry we had to come here,” the Doctor apologized, looking at Amy after he had swallowed a bite, “I just didn't know where else to go. The hospital was out of the question and-”  
“You did the right thing,” Amy said immediately, smiling. She was happy to see him and the Doctor now noticed that he was happy to see her, too. It had been too long, “And you will spend Christmas here, too. Now that we have you here we won't let you leave easily.”  
“Besides, that leg is gonna need a bit of time to heal. More than just that one week until Christmas,” Rory argued, “And you should eat. You've lost quite a lot of blood.”  
He nodded towards Rory and let his gaze wander around the table until his eyes met Clara's. She granted him a light smile and it came as a relief to him that she seemed content here for the time being even though deep down the Doctor knew that she still hadn't given up on the thought of revenge but for now they were stuck here and he couldn't think of a better place for that. Amy and Rory were his friends, they had nothing to do with the organisation and not even Missy knew of them. They would be safe here.  
“So, Doctor,” Amy began after a while, eating a spoonful of yoghurt, “You're still in the business then?”  
“This is my last mission,” he replied, “I will retire after this.”  
_After this._ As if it could ever be over. The Doctor hadn't actually thought much about the future, his priority being the present and how to keep Clara away from imminent danger – but there was no end to it, was there? There was a power vacuum as long as Dave's old position remained unclaimed, as long as they hid away the key people would continue to hunt them to get it. There were two possible ways in which this could end: They could open the deposit box and destroy the contents once and for all. The organisation would exist for a while, weaker, until it would start to crumble and fall apart, unable to do either good or bad and the Doctor knew that under Dave Oswald's leadership it had done more good than in those many decades before him.  
The other option was to let someone take the position but there was no one the Doctor trusted enough to hand them the key. No one but himself and he would never do it.  
“Retire?” Amy chuckled, tearing him out of his thoughts, “ _You?_ Yeah, I don't really see that happening,”

The Doctor didn't reply and continued to eat his breakfast in silence before he reached for his crutches and made his way towards the bathroom. What he really needed right now was a long bath and fresh clothes after the last couple of days. He had been through worse than that but still he couldn't wait to wash it all off.  
Slowly he sank into the bubble bath, letting his injured leg dangle over the rim and he sighed. The pain medication was beginning to wear off and he could feel the wound throb beneath the bandage but he decided to ignore it for now. Then his thoughts were interrupted by a knocking sound.  
“Come in,” the Doctor said and was surprised at how hoarse his own voice sounded. He needed something for the pain and more rest. Oh God, he was really getting too old for this.  
Clara stepped inside, carrying a small pile of clean clothes that she placed on the toilet lid next to the tub. “Amy said you can use one of the towels on the guest rack,” she explained with a smile before she sat down on the rim of the tub, “How are you feeling?”  
“Fine,” he replied.  
“Liar,” Clara scolded him with a glance before she prodded his injured leg. The Doctor winced as a surge of pain shot through him. “Pretending to be fine doesn't make it fine. You need to be honest with me.”  
The Doctor inhaled sharply, trying to ignore the throbbing in his leg. “I will be fine,” he said, “Rory patched me up nicely, it's just gonna take a while.”  
Still Clara didn't seem quite satisfied with his answer. “I don't mean just that. I meant,” she paused, “Missy held you captive. That can't have been easy.”  
“Missy didn't harm me,” he told her when he saw the worry rise up in her eyes, “I was just worried that-”  
He broke off, only now realizing how silly it sounded. The Doctor had thought only about Clara, nothing else.  
“That what?” she inquired curiously.  
Again he took a deep breath. “That something might happen to you. That I wouldn't be there to protect you, that-”  
The Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence as Clara bent down to brush their lips together. Softly. Carefully. He parted his lips for her, realizing that he wanted so much more from her than this gentle touch and he needed reminding that she was his dead boss's daughter. Yet there was no one here to remind him. He had blamed his feelings on the cabin fever but they were still there, still strong. He sighed into her mouth when Clara finally pulled away.  
“Don't worry. We'll both be fine,” Clara smiled at him as she rose to her feet, “I'll leave you to your bath now.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so much for the comments!!! *group hug*

Clara stepped away from the finished Christmas tree and admired their work for a moment while Amy straightened out the tinsel.  
“Well, at least Rory brought a straight one this year,” she commented, “The one we had last year was all crooked and quite sorry looking.”  
Clara giggled at the thought of it. Amy and Rory were lovely people, Clara had realized that in the three days she had been a guest in their home and for the first time in 15 years Clara got a glimpse of what a family spirit felt like. Ever since she had lost her mother nothing had ever been quite the same with her grandmother still living in Blackpool and her father retreating more and more; she had forgotten what it was like to have a family. Amy and Rory, they were the Doctor's family, they loved and adored him and they had accepted her immediately. They were treating her so kindly that sometimes Clara forgot all about the key, the organisation and being on the run.  
On her first day here Amy had asked her about her relationship with the Doctor at which Clara had only smiled and shrugged, yet it seemed to have been enough for Amy. She had smiled knowingly and never asked about it again.  
“I'm gonna get started on dinner. Rory will be home in an hour,” Amy said, rousing her from her daydream.  
“Do you want my help?” Clara asked.  
Amy shook her head. “Nah, it's fine. Better keep the Doctor company. He's been cooped up in the study all day and he really hates that.”  
Clara smiled and nodded before she made her way out of the living room and up to the end of the corridor where she could hear the soft music of a guitar. The first time Clara had heard him play two days ago she had hardly been able to believe it. The Doctor was good at it and he was using music to distract him from the pain he was still in. Yet Rory was insistent on lowering the dose of his painkillers a little each day.  
After a careful knock Clara stepped inside and found him sitting in the armchair, the guitar on his lap and he smiled at her when he saw her.  
“Don't stop,” Clara told him softly, “I like hearing you play.”  
Nevertheless the Doctor put his guitar aside and shrugged. “My finger are getting a bit tired,” he said and somehow Clara got the impression that it wasn't just the fingers that were getting tired, it was the Doctor. She had spent enough time with him now to know that sitting still wasn't his cup of tea. Yet his wounded leg forced him.  
She walked up to him and sank down on the arm rest of the chair, smiling at him. He smiled back.  
“How's the leg today?” she asked quietly.  
The Doctor let his head fall back and groaned.  
“That bad, huh?”  
He heard him take a deep breath before he looked at her again. “I wish Rory would let me have more painkillers. It's driving me insane. The pain and the sitting around,” he complained.  
Clara bit down on her lip when he closed his eyes again. “How about some natural painkillers instead?” she asked mischievously. They had been cuddling and kissing for days and the Doctor was finally starting to open up to her. Maybe he would let her now. Maybe.  
The Doctor scoffed. “What could that possibly be?” he asked her back and his eyes shot wide open when she dropped her hand to his belt. He seemed scared all of a sudden.  
“Endorphins,” Clara replied simply as she attempted to undo his belt but the Doctor's hand reached for her own, stopping her.  
“Clara,” he gave a small, short laugh, “I'm not really up to my best right now. I doubt I could-”  
“Shhh,” she hissed softly as she rose from her sitting position only to go down on her knees in front of him a moment later, “You don't have to do anything at all. Just let me.”  
Her hands brushed off his before she finally undid his belt. Slowly and deliberately. His resistance seemed to melt away under her fingers.  
He cleared his throat. “It doesn't seem right,” he whispered quietly.  
Clara looked up, staring straight at him. “Why? I want it. You want it. Why shouldn't it be right?”  
Again he laughed. “Because I promised your father that I would protect you and if he knew what has been going through my mind these past few days, if he knew how much I don't want to stop kissing you, he would kill me.”  
Clara smiled back at him. “See, that's where I think you're wrong. My father kept telling me how I shouldn't waste my time chasing boys, how I should find a good man who would put me first at every turn, who would read my every wish from my eyes. You are exactly that kind of man.”  
She scrambled back to her feet and leaned over the armchair until she could look straight into his eyes.  
“Clara Oswald,” the Doctor said hoarsely, “I don't believe that's what you're after.”  
When she kissed him again he finally stopped talking, like he always did. His response to the first kiss they had shared three days ago had surprised Clara. It had surprised her how eager he had been all of a sudden and how he hadn't been able to stop himself since. They never kissed in front of Amy or Rory, just when they were alone in the room they shared. On their second day he had allowed her to touch him. Now, Clara thought, it was time to make the next step. She sank back down to her knees and this time the Doctor didn't protest as her hands landed in his belt and pulled it away before opening his trousers and pulling them down.  
Clara smiled as she bent forward and took him in her hands, pulled the skin back and placed a soft kiss on the tip. She could feel him twitch in her fingers at the sudden contact with her mouth and it caused the butterflies in her stomach to flutter around wildly. To be allowed to touch him like that was something she had wanted but never expected to happen.  
“What if Amy walks in?” the Doctor asked weakly.  
Clara wrapped her hand around him and started to gently stroke along his length. “She won't. She's making dinner.”  
The Doctor sighed and let his head sink back against the chair when Clara started to feel him grow harder under her touch and that was when Clara knew he wouldn't try to stop her again. She leaned forward again and grazed his shaft with her tongue at which he murmured something Clara didn't understand. He was nice and big already in his half erect state when Clara wrapped her lips around his tip and slowly sucked him into mouth. The Doctor hissed sharply, his hips moving to meet her just a little and he dropped his hands to her head, burying his fingers in her hair. She loved how his nails scraped gently over her scalp.  
When she continued to move him in and out of her mouth, keeping her tongue flat against his underside Clara could feel his body pump blood into his member until he was rock solid between her lips. Clara reached out to cup his balls in her hands and pressed down on the spot right behind them and suddenly she heard a low moan comimg from his throat.  
She let him glide out of her mouth when she realized the Doctor's breath was becoming audible and instead Clara licked straight across the tip of his cock. She looked up at him, slowing her movements until he also opened his eyes to see what was going on.  
Suddenly the Doctor chuckled. “God, you're enjoying this, aren't you?”  
“Mh-mh,” Clara hummed in reply as she dipped her tongue into his slit that was already leaking with precum. She took him back into her mouth, sucking him in hard until she could hear another moan at the back of his throat. He was so hard and big, the idea of him thrusting inside her almost driving Clara crazy. She had half a mind to abandon her attempts to make him feel better and instead climb onto his lap and tend to her own aching desire.  
“Clara,” he hummed, his breathing fast and ragged now as he dug his fingernails deeper into her scalp, guiding her head around him and he arched his back up to meet her. His protests had stopped entirely, instead the Doctor seemed all too eager now to plunge into her mouth, to let her taste him. In fact, he seemed to be getting a little desperate for it.  
Clara pressed her lips together a little more, ignoring the burning sensation he was causing her and revelled in the response she got from him in return.  
“Yes,” he panted, clawing at her hair and pushing his hips up at an increasing pace, “Just faster. Please. A little-”  
His words died out in a moan as his cock hit the back of her throat and Clara swallowed the impulse to gag but quickly sped up her movements just like he had asked her to. She wanted him to come and she wanted it to be so good that he would never forget this moment for the rest of his life. So Clara increased the pressure of her lips around him and left it up to him to direct to the speed.  
Clara wasn't sure if he had stopped trying to keep his voice low or if there was no way he possibly could now that he was so deep into his arousal but the moans and grunts coming from his throat could surely be heard on the corridor by now as he kept thrusting into her mouth without any restraint left. Clara's own sex tingled at the promise of what he would be like once he was fully recovered and could take her any way he wanted. The thought of it made her moan around him.  
“Clara. . . I. . . I'm,” he broke off again, gasping for air and Clara could feel him leaking into her mouth as he thrust up, uncoordinated, before his movements eventually slowed and he sank back limply into his chair.  
She let him slip from her mouth, trailing his shaft with her tongue as she licked him clean and for a moment no sound could be heard other than the Doctor's heavy breathing. Suddenly he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up, pressing their lips together for a long, desperate kiss.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments, guys :) But aren't they a bit too happy?

The Doctor followed Clara outside to the kitchen and doubted for a moment that he was actually awake. While she acted as if nothing had ever happened his own body was still tingling with the afterglow of his orgasm that left his legs just a little weaker than they had been before and his mind oddly clouded and blank. He sank down into one of the chairs and Amy pushed a plate in his direction.  
“I hope you've been practising Christmas songs because want to hear those in a few days,” she grinned at him.  
“I'll just wash my hands. Be right back,” Clara called out to them before she disappeared on the corridor again. The Doctor's gaze wandered from her back to their dinner. Yes, he supposed that he was hungry.  
“Doctor?”  
He looked up to see straight into Amy's face and she smiled.  
“Yeah, right,” he replied absent-mindedly, “Christmas songs. I can do that.”  
“Everything alright?” she asked him kindly. Amy had no idea what had happened between him and Clara even though she probably suspected that something was going on. “Your leg giving you trouble?”  
“No, it's alright,” the Doctor forced himself to smile at her, “Everything's fine. I'm just a little tired.”

He remained quiet during dinner while Amy and Rory talked about the upcoming holidays practically non-stop and Clara agreed with what they said from time to time, telling everyone how much she was looking forward to spending Christmas with all of them before granting him a smile. The Doctor had no idea how to react. He was still too confused by their sudden act of intimacy even though he had known for a few days that it would end like that. Or start. Or whatever. He still wasn't sure.  
Once Rory had retreated to his study to deal with some paperwork and Clara had left the kitchen to take a shower the Doctor decided that he could at least do a little something to repay their kindness and help Amy dry the dishes.  
“I want to bake Christmas biscuits tomorrow,” Amy said as she handed him a couple of plates to dry, “Do you and Clara want to help?”  
The Doctor reached for the tea towel and started wiping the first plate. “I'll ask her about it,” he said even though he couldn't imagine Clara not wanting to help. She wasn't much of a cook but she loved baking.  
“I want to make this Christmas nice for her,” she continued, “It can't be easy for her, having lost her father and being away from her grandma. We're basically strangers to her but I hope we can have a nice couple of days. For her sake.”  
“Clara likes you. Both of you,” the Doctor told her truthfully.  
Suddenly Amy turned around and stared straight at him, leaving the dishcloth lying on the counter. “What about her mother?”  
He took a deep breath, only now remembering that there was one more thing he had to tell her somehow. One more thing he had skipped while he had told her everything about her father and the organisation because the Doctor had thought that Clara was in enough pain already and that there was no need to add more.  
“She died when Clara was a teenager,” he replied gravely, avoiding Amy's gaze. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her cross her arms in front of her chest. He knew Amy wanted the whole story and she wouldn't give up until she knew.  
“Clara's father told her that her mother died in a car accident,” he paused.  
“And how did she really die?” Amy cocked an eyebrow.  
“In a car. Only it wasn't so very accidental,” the Doctor looked up to glare at Amy. He hated bringing up these memories. Ellie Oswald had been an absolutely nice woman, a good wife to Dave and a loving mother to Clara. To this day he didn't know why she had to die and who was to blame for it.  
“You should tell Clara,” Amy told him, “Not now, obviously, but at some point. She has a right to know.”  
“Clara already wants revenge for her father,” the Doctor argued, “What do you think would happen if I told her that her mother was murdered, too?”  
“Doesn't matter. She would want to know the truth,” she said brusquely and reached for the dishcloth again, continuing with her task, “Also, your relationship shouldn't be based on secrets.”  
The Doctor's head shot up immediately. “There is no relationship,” he blurted out right as the bathroom door opened again and he could hear Clara step onto the corridor.  
Amy raised her eyebrows at him, that mischievous smile on her lips that told him she didn't believe a single word he told her. And maybe she was right.  
“What are you both staring at each other for?” Clara giggled once she entered the kitchen and Amy's smirk only deepened.  
“Uhm, nothing,” the Doctor replied hastily, “Amy just asked whether we wanted to help her make Christmas biscuits tomorrow.”  
“Of course,” Clara smiled, “Of course we'll do that.”

When it was time for bed the Doctor wasn't entirely sure whether he wanted to go straight to sleep or talk about what had happened earlier – he just didn't know exactly how to bring it up and Clara seemed to have no intention to do it either as she snuggled up against his chest like she always did. Gently he laid his arm around her and listened to her breathing and the ticking of the nearby clock but eventually it grew to be too much to bear.  
“Clara,” he began carefully.  
He heard her giggle softly. “Aren't you tired?”  
“I am, as a matter of fact, but,” he paused, not knowing how to say it, “But earlier-”  
“I enjoyed it,” she replied, interrupting him. Then she sat back up in bed to look him in the eyes. “The rest can wait until your leg has healed.”  
Still the Doctor didn't know what to say. As he looked at her he thought that maybe he had imagined it all, that maybe he was dreaming. He just couldn't believe that this lovely woman was lying in his arms and that she wanted him. It seemed surreal to just think about it.  
“Or are you having second thoughts?” Clara asked him after his hesitation.  
The Doctor reached out and cupped her face in his hands, pulling her on top of him while their lips met in a kiss. He opened his mouth and allowed her tongue to trail over his own while her hips dug into his crotch. His body responded instantly, filling him with a desire he had smothered for so long and as they sank back into the pillows, their lips never parting, he thought that maybe it was time he accepted that Clara truly was a grown woman and that her father had no say in her life any longer. Whatever he would have thought about them – it didn't matter now.  
Clara giggled when they broke the kiss and her breath felt hot on his lips. He smiled back.  
“You just wait until I'm recovered,” he teased her before crushing their mouths together once more.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments, babes :)

Clara wrapped her arms around him from behind and nuzzled her face against his neck, distracting him from his task of weighing the flour for the biscuit dough. The Doctor chuckled but quickly dodged her kisses.  
“We haven't even started and you're already trying to distract me,” he complained half-heartedly and shoved the measuring cup aside before turning his around to face her.  
Before Clara knew what was happening he had his arms around her waist, pulling her down to sit on his lap. She giggled as she adjusted her position, avoiding to accidentally brush his wound with her legs, and placed her hands behind his head. Clara looked at him for a long moment, her beautiful Doctor whom she now had exactly where she wanted him. The thought about him wanting her filled her with an almost childish feeling of delight.  
“Amy could be home any second,” Clara reminded him of his friend who had gone out to get some sugar from the grocery shop. She wasn't quite sure whether the Doctor would want his friends to know about them just yet even though she was certain that Amy knew anyway.  
“Mh-mh,” he hummed in reply before he bent forward and kissed her. Clara had almost groaned at the sensation. It was strange how a simple kiss from him seemed to be able to start a fire inside of her and she squirmed against his lap and chest in response, pressing herself more tightly against him. For a brief moment she wondered how much longer it would take before he could finally engage in some action besides kissing and touching, how much longer until his leg was healed enough for him to take her the way he wanted her.

“No relationship, huh?”  
They broke apart instantly as they heard Amy's voice and Clara had almost jumped up from his lap in surprise as she spotted her standing only a few steps away, stacking the groceries she had bought into the cupboard. They hadn't even heard her come home.  
The Doctor cleared his throat but even though Clara had expected him to find an excuse, to defend their actions or play them down, he never said a thing. She made an attempt to get up and sit elsewhere but the Doctor still held her close.  
“It looks like we might get snow,” Amy went on to explain, “Can't remember the last time we had a white Christmas.”  
Clara only half heard her with the Doctor smiling at her the way he did, so lovingly, so happily that she couldn't help but bend down to kiss him again.  
“Guys, please,” Amy groaned, making them finally pull apart, “You know I'm happy for you but I'm still in the room.”  
The Doctor coughed to end the awkwardness. “Sorry,” he mumbled and Clara rose from his lap to take a seat on the nearest chair as Amy switched on the telly so they would have something to run in the background while they were baking.  
Clara followed the news with little interest but she soon noticed that the Doctor's attention had shifted from her to the man talking on screen. She knew him as a potential candidate for the prime minister's office and it took her a moment to see through what he was actually saying. Something about increasing the export of weapons.  
“That's gonna make some people really rich,” Clara commented with little interest as she reached for the measuring cup the Doctor had cast aside earlier, “Might be worth investing some of my Dad's money in the production of arms.”  
The Doctor suddenly shot around, staring at her and for a moment Clara was even a little frightened of the intensity of his gaze.  
“You're right,” he blurted out.  
Clara scoffed. “You know I was kidding, right? I'm not actually gonna invest-”  
“No, not that part,” he interrupted her, “It will make some people rich, but who exactly?”  
She frowned at him, not really understanding why he was so interested in who would profit from Harold Saxon's ascent and then his facial expression suddenly changed as he put on a smile.  
“Doesn't matter,” the Doctor said eventually, “It's Christmas. We shouldn't bother with politics.”  
“Right,” Amy agreed when she placed the final ingredients for the biscuits in front of them, “Let's make something delicious.”  
Clara still felt a little confused about the Doctor's sudden interest in politics but seeing as he had already changed the topic and Amy was eager to get the biscuits done she decided not to push it. If it was truly important the Doctor would tell her. He told her everything.

* * *

When the Doctor put the guitar aside Clara nuzzled her head against his shoulder and wrapped the blanket around both of them. They were all sitting on the floor around the fireplace, Amy and Rory in one corner and her and the Doctor in the other, eating the biscuits they had made and drinking the eggnog Amy had prepared earlier. It was the best and cosiest Christmas Eve Clara had had in a long time and for today she had decided to ban all the bad thoughts from her mind. She just wanted to enjoy these holidays.  
“You should play some more,” Clara suggested, staring up at the Doctor hopefully.  
He chuckled when he placed his arm around her. “My fingers are burning. They're not used to the strings anymore.”  
“Poor fingers,” she mumbled and turned around to kiss his hand that was resting on her shoulder.  
“I'm sorry we had to intrude on Christmas,” the Doctor said sincerely towards Amy and Rory who were equally cuddled up in blankets a few metres away.  
“Don't be silly,” Rory said immediately, “We love having you here. Both of you. You're family.”  
“And family should be together on Christmas,” Amy added.  
Clara suddenly felt a pang of guilt as if someone had stabbed her in the gut. Her own family was either dead or alone. She had left her grandmother completely on her own during Christmas when she was still grieving and probably in desperate need of some company. And here she was, enjoying herself with the Doctor and two people she had known for barely a week. _Ban all the bad thoughts_ , she thought to herself. She would find a way to make it up to her grandmother once it was all over.  
She felt the Doctor pull her a little closer and Clara enjoyed the warmth coming from his body, it made her a little impatient to go to bed so she could enjoy it with fewer layers of fabric between them.  
Amy soon refilled their glasses and fetched a couple of board games at which the Doctor groaned, thinking it too childish for a group of adults. However Clara and Amy managed to convince him to a game of Monopoly. They played for hours, laughing as they did, and Clara was happy to see the Doctor eventually enjoying himself. When Amy started to yawn and Rory had no way out of his bankruptcy they all decided to call it a night.  
“Come here,” Clara got up first and offered the Doctor both her hands to help him up before she dragged him into a standing position where he reached for his crutch.  
“We can probably trade that for a walking stick,” Rory suggested as he packed up the game.  
He scoffed. “Yeah, do go on, make me feel like the old man that I am,” he complained.  
“Time for bed, _old man_ ,” Clara teased, smiling broadly at him before they said their goodbyes and retreated to their bedroom.

Once Clara had stripped down and put on her nightwear she lifted the covers and slid into bed next to the Doctor. She was about to turn off the lights when she suddenly felt his arm around her waist, pulling her away from the light switch. Giggling, she turned around to look at him.  
“Not sleepy yet?” Clara asked him and was suddenly very much aware of how his crotch was pressed tightly against her own. She couldn't be absolutely sure, but she thought she felt the heat of his erection rubbing against her thigh.  
“No,” the Doctor grinned before he bent forward to kiss her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments!!! Oh, and this is NSFW, kids!

So what if leg wasn't completely healed. So what if he was still in pain. The Doctor couldn't wait a moment longer. He had been thinking about Clara non-stop ever since their encounter in Rory's office that had somehow started a fire inside him he just couldn't ignore. He had been thinking about her all day, shamelessly giving himself to the thought of how it would be like to finally sink into her. He wanted it and he wanted it right now, so much that he was already growing hard just imagining it.  
The Doctor pulled Clara on top of him so she straddled his lap, their lips never breaking apart and her hips now dug deliciously into his own. He groaned into her mouth at the sensation and lifted his own hips up to increase the friction. She felt so good on top of him already that it only stoked his desire.  
Clara eventually pulled away from him, panting and laughing. “What's gotten into you?” she giggled, “Should you be exercising like this with your leg?”  
“Screw the leg,” he growled, his hands wandering to her waist to guide her, rubbing her against his own body. He could feel his cock grow harder at the excitement of having Clara so close.  
She chuckled again. “Alright,” Clara said and reached for the hem of her shirt before she pulled it over her head, casting it aside and bearing her breasts to him. The Doctor thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful, so perfect as the one he was beholding right now. While one hand remained steady on her hip he raised the other to her breast and cupped it, small and firm under he palm and the Doctor pulled her back down to bring his mouth to it. Clara gave a small hiss when he sucked her nipple and started kissing his way down from the space between her breasts to her navel. She was so small in his hands and so beautiful and he wanted her so, so much.  
Clara helped him get rid of their clothes, throwing her knickers aside before she went to hastily unbutton his shirt and his trousers.  
“Careful,” the Doctor reminded her of his wound as she pulled them down and he saw the excitement on her face when her gaze fell on his erection. Just how a woman like Clara could want him still evaded him but right now it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except him and her.  
The Doctor let out a groan as she wrapped her hot, wet lips around him and right now there was nothing he wanted more than her mouth around his cock but nevertheless he pulled her back up to his level. If they were going to do it, they were going to do it properly and he would try his hardest to please her.  
“I believe it's my turn,” he said as he tried to lift her up higher but Clara didn't budge. Instead she eyed him curiously, her eyes so much darker than usually.  
“What have you planned?” she asked mischievously.  
When he caught her off guard he managed to propel her up so she was kneeling right over his face and the Doctor lifted his head and cupped her sex with his mouth. Clara whimpered on top of him at the sudden sensation as soon as she had realized just what exactly he was doing. He held her steady as she adjusted to find a more comfortable position before he slipped his tongue between her folds and sucked gently. The sounds she made shot straight to his core, fuelling his own arousal and making his cock twitch in anticipation. Clara was so wet already when she started grinding against his tongue, so ready for him that it almost drove him wild. She mewled on top of him as he lapped at her and the Doctor withdrew himself from her, chuckling.  
“You taste amazing, do you know that?”  
Clara let out a groan and reached down into his hair to guide him. “Shut up and continue,” she replied breathlessly and hummed in satisfaction when he brought his tongue back to her clit. He tried his best to suppress his own rising need but it was becoming increasingly hard to do. If only he could be inside her already or at least reach down and tend to his aching desire. He was so hard by now he felt as if he was about to burst.  
On top of him Clara moaned once more, burying her fingers deeper into his scalp. “More,” she breathed, a sound that came from the back of her throat.  
That was it. The Doctor couldn't wait any longer. He took Clara by the waist and flipped them both over, ignoring how the pain instantly shot through his leg but that was nothing compared to his desperate need to finally find some form of release. The Doctor bent down to kiss her roughly before he came back up to smile at her.  
“How flexible are your legs?” he asked, grinning broadly in anticipation as he positioned himself between her legs. He was so close to her that only centimetres separated him from her. He could already feel her heat.  
Clara grinned back at him. “I don't know. Let's find out?”  
She uttered a small sound of surprise, following by laughing as he lifted her legs over his shoulders and bent back down only to see Clara still giggling.  
“Still good?”  
“Never been better,” she reassured him with a smile. She moaned loudly, a strained sound from the back of her throat that overshadowed his own as he sank into her, her walls so tight around him that the Doctor thought he wouldn't last a minute. It took all of his willpower to keep his thrust shallow and slow and not plunge into her when really that was what he wanted. She felt so much better around him than he had expected as he started moving inside of her and Clara lifted her hips up in response, eager to meet him. When he looked at her Clara had her eyes closed and her lips were parted, the breath coming out fast and heavy and only then he dared to go just a little faster, just a little deeper.  
He couldn't contain the sounds coming from his lips as he thrust inside her and with each time she took in a little more of him until he was completely buried inside of her. It was then that Clara let out a cry and he stopped abruptly. God, he didn't want to stop at all. He wanted to remain engulfed by her heat forever.  
“Sorry, did I hurt you?”  
“No,” she keened before she chuckled and opened her eyes, “I like it rough.”  
“Are you su-”  
“Go on,” Clara urged him and finally he did what she asked, what he wanted to do. He plunged back inside of her, her hips thrusting up to meet him as they were picking up pace and the Doctor gave himself to her completely. Everything about Clara was amazing from her scent, to her body, to the way she felt around him and he didn't want this moment to ever stop. However Clara was soon writhing beneath him, her breath becoming faster as was their rhythm and when she cried out his name and her walls started fluttering around his cock in her orgasm he knew that he was beyond the point of no return. He thrust inside her once, twice before he felt overpowered by pleasure and he felt it shoot through his body as it grew rigid and spent himself inside of her.  
The Doctor remained there for a long moment, just catching his breath, revelling in the feeling of release and waiting until he felt his erection abate and he pulled out of her to come to rest next to Clara.  
“Now I'm curious what you're like when your leg has healed,” she joked, still panting.  
The Doctor almost felt too tired to reply but he wrapped his arm around Clara and pulled her closer. Now that she had mentioned it he did feel a throbbing in his leg and he thought that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea after all but it had been absolutely worth it. He felt marvellously empty and spent.  
“Are you okay?” Clara inquired curiously with just a hint of worry on her voice.  
The Doctor swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he replied breathlessly, “Better than okay.”  
He turned his head to kiss her forehead before he closed his eyes, knowing he would fall asleep quickly and he smiled to himself. Once he was fully healed he wanted to spend days with Clara just doing what they had done a few minutes ago. Just Clara and himself and a bed – that would be the best thing in the world.

* * *

“Sorry about your leg,” Clara gave him an apologetic look as he struggled with his crutches when they were about to head into the kitchen to have breakfast with the others. The Doctor only growled in reply. The walking stick would probably have to wait for a few more days now. “If it's any consolation, I think I pulled a muscle.”  
Finally the Doctor chuckled. “That's the price you pay for liking it rough,” he commented just as she opened the door and they both looked straight into Amy's face. She looked tired and maybe a little bit annoyed but there was also something mischievous about her face. It was obvious that she had overheard at least part of their conversation.  
“I was just gonna call you for breakfast but now that you mention it,” she paused, “Rory would like me to tell you that with your leg you should probably abstain from rough, sexual activities.”  
“I did not say it like that!” came a protesting voice from the direction of the kitchen and by now the Doctor was sure he was blushing mercilessly. Clara however didn't seem the least bit embarrassed.  
Amy lowered her voice. “In other words: keep it down, please?”  
“Sorry,” the Doctor mumbled, his eyes now fixed on his feet.  
“Now come on, guys,” she said more cheerfully now, “It's Christmas and I'm sure you must be starving after all the rough workout.”  
Clara giggled in reply but the Doctor still didn't dare to look at Amy while he followed her into the kitchen. Knowing her he would never hear the end of it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments :) Now, let's shake things up a bit, shall we?

It was snowing again as they stepped outside, not like it had on Christmas, just millions of tiny, little flakes falling to the ground only to melt almost instantly. Rory had told the Doctor to take a short walk every day and Clara had urged him outside despite the weather and his protests.  
“See, it's beautiful,” she told him, smiling at him. The Doctor reluctantly smiled back as he leaned on his walking stick. He was walking better now, his leg healing well and Clara felt very much relieved about that. A lot of things had changed over the past few weeks but what astounded her most was that they had both grown calmer, probably a side effect from watching Amy's and Rory's domestic life. The Doctor seemed less edgy, more content with sitting still and Clara was slowly beginning to come to terms with everything that had happened. Somehow the thought about revenge became less important to her with every passing day and maybe that was exactly what the Doctor had intended by bringing them here. Whatever it was, it was working.

“I've been thinking,” the Doctor began, suddenly interrupting her train of thoughts.  
“Oh?” Clara cocked an eyebrow at him as they walked, eyeing him curiously.  
The Doctor inhaled sharply. “Yeah,” he breathed, “I know Amy and Rory have offered to let us stay for as long as we like but I think we shouldn't strain their hospitality too much.”  
“You mean to say we should go looking for somewhere else to stay?” Clara asked him even though it was obvious now and he was probably right. Amy and Rory were lovely people and made them feel nothing but welcome in their home but it was getting a little crowded sometimes. And since their first night together the Doctor and Clara had been extra careful to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb their hosts. For all of those reasons it would be nice if they finally had their own place again.  
“That's exactly what I mean,” he took another deep breath, “I think we should give France another chance. This time without abductions.”  
When he chuckled Clara turned around to glare at him. She didn't find it particularly funny but what bothered her more was the suggestion of going to another country.  
“Why France? Can't we find a place here?”  
The Doctor stopped abruptly and Clara waited for him to look at her but he never did. Instead he kept staring at his own two feet. “I meant what I said to Amy when we got here. I want out of this business. I want to retire but as long as we're here I'll have to keep on watching out and keep on protecting you. That's not the kind of life I want for either of us. You could go to university in France, you could become a teacher or whatever you want. We would be safe there.”  
Finally he looked up at her and suddenly Clara understood what he was talking about and it surprised her to not have seen it sooner.  
“You want to retire _with me_ ,” she realized, for a moment not quite sure what to think about it. His suggestion made their relationship appear so serious. Of course, they had attempted to go to France together before – with him as something like her bodyguard. Now it seemed to have a different connotation as well. They would be going to France together, as a couple. Clara wasn't quite sure if she was ready for such a step. Their relationship was new, passionate and exciting, yes, but new. She hadn't actually started thinking about whether it could be something serious or not.  
“Yes,” the Doctor replied and she watched his shoulders sink. He seemed almost disappointed. “But that's not what you want.”  
Clara shrugged. “I don't know what I want,” she admitted truthfully, “In case you haven't noticed my life is kind of upside down at the moment.”  
The Doctor nodded understandingly. “I get that. You don't have to make a decision right now, you can-”  
He broke off when Clara stepped forward to take his hand and smiled at him. “What I know is that we're going to stick together, you and me. Where that will be I don't know yet. Maybe France, maybe not. Amy and Rory won't kick us out tomorrow so we've got time to consider the options.”  
“Right,” he agreed after a moment of hesitation but there was still a hint of sadness in his voice so Clara pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him. It was as if she could feel the doubts melt away on her lips when he bent down and kissed her back and they didn't stop until Clara eventually became aware of the increasing cold.  
“Listen,” she said after she had caught her breath, “I'm going to run to the grocery shop and get a few things. Meet you back at the house in an hour or so?”  
The Doctor regarded her warily. “I don't think you should be going on your own.”  
“Don't be silly,” Clara replied, “We've been here for weeks and nothing has happened. I'll be fine. Besides, you're not really up to a fight yet anyway.” 

When the Doctor finally agreed Clara trudged off in the direction of the village centre, but she looked back a couple of times to see the Doctor walk back to the house. She really needed time to think about what was going to happen. The day of her birthday, her doubts about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, it all seemed so far away now after everything that had happened. Did she still want to become a teacher? She honestly couldn't say. Did she want to move to France with the Doctor? A part of her really did want to, leave everything behind for a fresh start but there was still this small, nagging noise telling her that the injustice of her father's death shouldn't go unpunished. When the Doctor wasn't paying attention Clara often read the news to see what the police were saying about the case and they had no clue yet. Clara didn't even know if they could find whoever had done it.  
“Excuse me!”  
Clara turned around at the sound of the Scottish, female voice and she spotted a woman in her forties, dressed in an impeccable suit and coat.  
“Uhm, hello?” Clara asked warily, unsure of why the woman had spoken to her.  
“Hello dear,” the strange lady smiled at her. There was something eerie about her that Clara couldn't quite put her finger on, “I'm looking for the grocery shop. You don't happen to know where that is, do you?”  
She was relieved to find that the woman seemed to have a harmless motive even though something about her didn't seem quite right. Clara could feel it. Nevertheless it would be rude to just rebuff her.  
“Sure,” she replied eventually, “It's just around a few corners. I was going there myself.”  
The woman smiled. “Mind if I follow you?”  
“Not at all,” Clara said and led the way.

 

It was already starting to grow dark when Clara arrived back at the house and when she stepped inside she found the living room deserted. However she could hear the Doctor and Amy talk in the living room so Clara headed in that direction.  
She couldn't quite say what made her stop by the door but as if by instinct she came to a halt in front of it and listened for a moment.  
“She has a right to know and _you_ should be the one to tell her,” Amy said and she sounded a little annoyed, as if she had had that conversation before.  
“And I will,” the Doctor replied defensively, “But if I tell Clara now she will never want to leave England, she will never give up on her revenge. I finally got her to consider France, I don't want to ruin that.”  
Clara felt frozen on the spot. The Doctor was keeping something from her, probably something to do with her father. He had lied to her.  
“She was her _mother_ ,” Amy reminded him and Clara felt like she had been stabbed. There was this sort of piercing pain she always felt when someone mentioned her mum, that feeling of loss that was still with her every single day, “Maybe revenge isn't the way but if something like that had happened to my parents I would want to know who exactly is responsible for their deaths.”  
Clara couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't keep standing there, listening to a conversation that was obviously not meant for her ears, so she stepped right into the room and instantly felt the Doctor's frightened eyes on her when he realized the moment of truth had come.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments :)

“Clara,” the Doctor blurted out and rose from his seat. He didn't need a lot of imagination to read from her face that she had overheard more than enough. There was no way to play it down any longer, there was no lie he could tell her.  
“Doctor,” Clara began carefully, “What's going on?”  
Amy threw him a glance before she retreated into the living room, leaving the two of them alone to talk. _Talk._ The Doctor had no idea where to begin. He opened his mouth a couple of times but closed it again, finding no words that could make it easier for Clara. She had a right to know, yes, but he would have liked to tell her under different circumstances. Not like this.  
“What was that about my mother?” she demanded to know. There was a fierceness in her voice that the Doctor had already witnessed on some occasions and, if he was entirely honest, it frightened him a little.  
“Your mother's car crash,” the Doctor paused. He had to say it. “It wasn't an accident. Someone had arranged it. Your father spent years trying to figure out who did it, who was trying to harm him, but he never found out.”  
“And you never thought to tell me?!” Clara yelled at him. Her voice was sharp and brutal and the Doctor could tell that she was hurt but there was nothing he could do about that now.  
“I wanted to, at a later time. You already had enough to worry about after your father, I didn't want to-”  
“Did it ever occur to you that whoever it was might have killed both of them?!”  
Of course it had. But the Doctor couldn't see a way for them to find the person responsible. Not without help and they couldn't accept help because no one could be trusted.  
“I wanted to protect you,” the Doctor stated simply, “The same thing your father wanted when he sent you to boarding school after her death. When he asked me to take care of you just days before-”  
“I am not a child anymore!” Clara shouted, “I don't need a babysitter! I need someone I can _trust_ , Doctor! But I can't even trust you, can I?”  
“Clara,” he said gently and stepped forward. He wanted to talk to her calmly, he wanted to comfort her, to explain but Clara stepped away from him.  
“No, don't touch me!”  
“Please,” he begged her, “Just sit down and let me explain.”  
“No,” she repeated determinedly and the Doctor suddenly felt afraid. He had no idea what she was going to do, what would happen next and it frightened him. He just wanted to make it right again, but Clara was too upset to listen to reason.  
Eventually she shook her head. “I just need a moment to myself,” she said before she turned on her heels and headed towards the door.  
“Clara, wait!” the Doctor followed her into the corridor, ignoring how his leg was stinging when he ran, “You shouldn't go out by yourself, it's not s-”  
Suddenly Clara bent down and pinched his wound, making the Doctor wince with pain before he looked at her again. She was glaring at him furiously.  
“You can't protect me,” she told him angrily, “So leave me be.”  
“Clara-” the Doctor was interrupted when the door was shut in his face and he was ready to go after her when Amy's voice held him back.  
“Let her go,” Amy said gently, “She'll go for a walk and come back once she has calmed down.”  
The Doctor stared back at the door. Amy was probably right, there was nowhere she could go on her own, not without him, not without help. Right? But what if he was wrong?  
Suddenly he felt Amy's arm on his own and she carefully pulled him back from the door.  
“Give her time,” she told him with a soft smile, “It's a good thing that she knows now.”  
The Doctor scoffed. “Is it?”  
“Yes,” Amy reassured him, “She knows what happened to her parents and she will calm down and she will learn to deal with it. Clara is a strong woman, don't worry about her. She's going to be fine.”  
Finally he took a deep breath, realizing that Amy was right. Clara was probably the strongest person he knew and that was also what scared him. She might try to make it on her own and then he might never see her again just because he hadn't been completely honest with her.  
“Stop worrying,” she scolded him, “Come into the kitchen and we'll make a cup of tea. One for Clara, too, cause she'll be back soon enough.”  
“Alright,” the Doctor eventually agreed and let Amy lead him into the kitchen.

* * *

Clara stormed off, away from the house, away from the Doctor and all of his lies. Even though in her heart she knew that he had only meant to protect her she couldn't quite forgive him just yet. She didn't need protection, she needed honesty and once again Clara felt as if he was treating her like a child who couldn't be trusted.  
Her mother had been murdered, just like her father. Clara was still so in shock about the Doctor's betrayal that for the moment she didn't even know what to think about this new piece of information. Why had he even kept it from her for so long and not told her straight away? Did he think she was going to go off and seek revenge? Well, yes, she wanted to see her father's killer properly dealt with and right now, maybe out of spite, Clara wanted it all the more. The Doctor had had no right to keep these things from her and it would serve him right if she went out now and did whatever the hell she pleased.  
When a car was driving up from behind Clara cleared the path and continued to walk on the pavement but after a moment she realized that it wasn't passing her by. Instead it drove steadily right next to her.  
“What's your damn problem?” she yelled at the tinted windows in her anger, “I'm not from this fucking town! I don't know the way to anywhere!”  
The windows were rolled down and in the light of the street lamp Clara spotted the woman from earlier, the one that had asked her for directions to the supermarket.  
“I'd like you to get into this car,” the woman said in a bored voice, her Scottish accent a little more prominent now than it had been this afternoon.  
Clara scoffed. “Yeah, sure,” she replied sarcastically, snorting as she continued walking, “Got any sweets? Cause I'm not getting into a stranger's car if there aren't any sweets in for me.”  
“I believe I have something better,” the woman said and Clara once more turned around to look at her. Only to stare straight into the barrel of a gun. From one moment to the next it hit her like a sledgehammer. She knew who this woman was, the only woman it could be.  
“I have an offer for you. Get in the car,” Missy nodded towards the door handle.  
“Right, so you can kill me?”  
Missy chuckled. “Honey, if I wanted you dead I would have had a lot of opportunities to kill you without staining the seats in my car. I said I had an offer. Now get in.”  
Still Clara was reluctant.  
The woman rolled her eyes impatiently. “Part of the deal is that I'm gonna tell you who murdered your parents.”  
Clara stopped dead in her tracks and, a moment later, so did the car. “In exchange for what?” she asked warily.  
“Well, get in the car and find out. Seriously, my arm's getting tired,” Missy, who was still pointing the gun at her, complained and after a moment of consideration Clara reached for the door handle. She was fully aware that she was getting into a car with a crazy person, she was fully aware that it could end in her death but right now Missy was making her an offer and Clara seriously hoped that there would be a chance to decline it if she didn't like the conditions.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments!!!

To Clara's surprise Missy handed the gun back to her driver as soon as she was inside the car but somehow that gesture didn't make her feel much safer. What had she been thinking, getting in a car with Missy?  
“I don't think we've been properly introduced,” the woman sneered at her, “I'm-”  
“I know who you are,” Clara spat at her, “You kidnapped the Doctor.”  
“ _Or_ you could say I just wanted to spend some quality time with my childhood friend,” she said, a pretend look of shock on her face, “We _were_ friends once, you know.”  
“I know. He told me,” she replied and turned around to face the windscreen, or rather the back of the head rest but it didn't matter what exactly her eyes were set on as long as Clara had something other to stare at than Missy. She didn't want to talk, she just wanted a moment to gather her thoughts.  
What would happen now? Of course, Missy would demand the key at some point and Clara would have little choice but to give it to her. Even if Missy had fallen for the trick of the spare key, Clara had given that away. She could lie and tell her she had lost it but Missy would never believe it. What had Clara done agreeing to get into her car? Maybe she should call the Doctor and ask for his help as long as she still had her phone?  
“Where are you taking me?” she asked Missy even though she had wanted silence just a moment ago.  
“Oh, you're gonna _love_ it there,” Missy said excitedly, smiling at Clara, “It's a sweet, little place just thirty minutes from here. Mansion by the lake. I might make you an offer if you want it.”  
Clara turned her head away and rolled her eyes. There was something about Missy's cheerful demeanour that annoyed her and she thought she could guess the sort of insanity that lay beneath it. Then suddenly her phone started ringing inside her pocket.  
She retrieved it to see that the Doctor was calling her. While she still considered her options Missy spoke again.  
“You can answer it, you know,” she prompted her, “He's probably worried about you.”  
_And rightly so_ , Clara thought and let the phone slide back into her pocket. She wouldn't know what to say to him and she didn't want the Doctor to stop her from finding out who killed her parents.

Missy hadn't lied about the mansion by the lake. A half hour later the car stopped in front of a large property and Missy gestured towards Clara to follow her inside, which she did. Immediately Clara noticed that there wasn't any security around, an observation that struck her as odd. If she made a run for it Missy would have very few means of stopping her. But then she'd never hear who killed her parents. As soon as Clara looked back up at Missy she realized that these were the exact same thoughts going through her head. Missy knew Clara wouldn't run and all of a sudden Clara realized that she wasn't in any danger at all because Missy wanted something from her in return that went beyond the key in her possession.  
“What do you want?” Clara demanded to know.  
“Ugh,” Missy let out a groan, “Why do people have to be so direct these days? Why can't we just sit down in front of a nice cup of tea and have a little chat?”  
Clara shrugged and plopped down in one of the elegant living room chairs. “Fine then. Let's have tea,” she replied nonchalantly.  
After Missy had clapped her hands her driver, who turned out to be more of a butler to Missy, appeared in the doorway and a short while later they were brought tea and biscuits for which Missy reached immediately. She had also taken a seat and Clara was waiting impatiently for her to start talking. When Missy still took her time pouring the tea and sipping from her cup Clara was beginning to grow nervous.  
“Tell me what you want,” she demanded again.  
Finally Missy looked up at her and it seemed as if she had momentarily forgotten about her presence. She set her teacup down. “I want the Doctor to take over the organisation,” she said plainly.  
Clara frowned at her. “Excuse me?”  
“Oh, you heard me. I want the Doctor to make use of the key that I'm sure you carry somewhere on your body at this moment and lead the organisation.”  
Clara didn't understand. Of course the Doctor had already mentioned that Missy would find leading the organisation to be too much of a responsibility but there was no sane reason for her to want the Doctor to become the new head, especially after she had already kidnapped him for God knows what reason.  
“Why?” Clara asked simply, “Why would you want that?”  
“Oh, don't get me wrong,” Missy smiled, “You are most welcome to help him. You could lead it together, wouldn't that be fun? But seriously, who better? Name one person.”  
She had no answer to that question and it was a good one. Who would end up leading the organisation? If she and the Doctor didn't claim whatever was in that deposit box someone else would always want to, hunting them down to get the key and get to the information inside the box before someone else did. Someone simply had to do it and Clara couldn't think of one person she trusted enough except for herself and the Doctor.  
“Ah, I'm starting to make sense, am I not?” Missy giggled, looking at her curiously.  
“But why not take it for yourself?” she asked bluntly, “You're right, I have the key here. You could just take it. Why not do that?”  
Missy blew the air out between her lips and she appeared bored. “I like the action that comes with my job. I don't want to sit in an office and gather dust, no, that's boring. I want the Doctor to do it. He's the perfect playmate for me.”  
“ _Playmate?_ ”  
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Clara's phone and when she checked it was the Doctor again.  
“Go on,” Missy urged her, “Tell him the news about his promotion.”  
Clara hesitated for a moment and then accepted the phone call.

* * *

The Doctor hadn't been able to stand the waiting, so after having a cup of tea with Amy he headed out to look for Clara but she was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even know which direction she had taken so the Doctor searched blindly for a while, ignoring the pain in his leg as best as he could, until he decided to call her. When her phone just kept ringing without an answer he was beginning to grow worried. What if something had happened to her? What if they had been found and someone had taken her? He called Amy to ask whether Clara had returned home yet but quickly learned that she hadn't, so the Doctor continued the search to no avail whatsoever. It was as if Clara had dropped off the face of the earth, so he decided to give her another call. He took a couple of deep breaths as he listened to the sound of the beeping until finally he heard her voice.  
“Hey,” Clara said simply.  
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief but something still made him feel uneasy, he just couldn't quite say what it was. “Clara,” he said, “Where are you? I've been looking everywhere.”  
“I, erm,” she paused, “I'm with Missy. Don't worry, I'm fine. She won't harm me.”  
His heart seemed to sink into his boots and he didn't care that Clara thought she was safe – she was with Missy and that put her in more danger than she could ever realize.  
“Tell me where you are!” he bellowed into the phone, “I'm coming to get you.”  
There was a pause at the other end of the line. “Yes,” she said simply, “But there's something else.”  
“What?” the Doctor asked warily.  
Another pause. “I've spoken with Missy. I want us to use the key, Doctor. You and me both. We're gonna lead the organisation and in exchange she will tell me who murdered my parents.”  
The Doctor was sure Clara was saying something else but he never heard her as the reality of what she had just told him was beginning to sink in. Missy had gotten to her and he had to get her back and undo the damage that she had done, erase the ideas that Missy had put into Clara's head. If Clara used that key to open the deposit box and read what was inside they would never find peace again in their lives.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments, guysssssss :) Glad you are anxious about this :D

“Maybe you should ask Jack for help,” Amy suggested as soon as the Doctor had explained the situation to her.  
He sighed. Jack Harkness was an old friend and private detective and he was good at what he did but the more people the Doctor asked for help the more people he put in danger. Besides, Jack's work was too slow. He needed to get Clara out of there right away.  
The Doctor paced the kitchen for a moment, racking his brain for an answer, but all he could come up with were more questions.  
“It all comes down to who murdered Dave and why,” he said eventually, staring at Amy. Who killed him? What was the reason? And why did Missy want him to lead the organisation? It seemed connected somehow and yet the Doctor failed to see how. Eventually the Doctor reached for his phone again.  
“Are you calling Jack?” Amy asked.  
“No,” he growled before he hit the green button. The phone rang a couple of times until finally she picked up the phone.  
“I didn't expect to hear from you again, Doctor,” Kate Stewart said, “I don't think you want to apologize for your little trick with the key?”  
She didn't even seem mad about that, her voice was curious more than anything.  
“That trick was Clara's idea. I didn't know about it. Otherwise I wouldn't have let you shoot me, would I?” he spat in reply.  
“Fair point,” Kate said, “So, what do you want this time?”  
The Doctor took a deep breath. If he did it Clara might never forgive him, yet he knew it would be better for both of them and maybe Clara would realize it eventually. “Your help. In exchange for the key. The real one,” he promised.  
After a moment of hesitation Kate started to laugh. “I'm sorry, but do you actually think I'm going to fall for that a second time?”  
“It's not a trick,” the Doctor insisted, “Believe me, I didn't know Clara had switched the keys. Help me and you will get the real key. We will go to the bank together and open the box if you don't trust me. But I need your help.”  
For a while he heard nothing except her breathing. Then Kate scoffed. “What made you change your mind, Doctor? Why are you willing to give up the key _now_?”  
“Because I hate the alternative!” he half yelled at her, “I just want to live my life in peace and I want Clara to be able to do the same! I want nothing to do with all of it any longer! You are a good person, Kate, you would use the information in this box wisely.”  
“So would you,” she replied quietly.  
“Except that you _want_ it,” he sighed, “I just want Clara.”  
Only as he spoke the words the Doctor realized how true they were. He wanted to be with her more than anything, far way from all of this mess, far away from danger. Just the Doctor and Clara. Whether she wanted the same or not what another matter, but it was his duty to protect her from her father's organisation, it was what he had promised Dave and he would keep that promise no matter the cost. Even if it meant betraying Clara.  
“What do you need?” Kate asked him eventually.  
The Doctor inhaled sharply, trying to focus. “Find out who profits most if Harold Saxon wins the election and increases weapon exports,” he told her.  
“What?”  
“That was the last case put before Dave, to prevent Harold Saxon from winning. If you find the person who profits most from his victory, you have a motive for Dave's murder.”  
“How does that help?” Kate inquired.  
“First, because Clara needs to know. She will never rest unless she does. Second, it might help me understand why all of this is happening,” he explained.  
“Alright,” Kate agreed eventually, “You'll have my answer by morning.”  
The Doctor nodded even though she couldn't see. “Thank you.”  
“I'm sorry about shooting you,” she suddenly added to his surprise. The last thing the Doctor would have suspected was an apology from her after Clara had tricked her. “I know I went too far.”  
“It's okay,” the Doctor reassured her, “You wanted the key to keep the country safe. I wouldn't have hesitated to shoot you to protect Clara either.”  
Kate didn't reply, so the Doctor simply ended the call. Now all he had to do was wait until morning.

* * *

“Why is he taking so long?” Clara complained loudly and found the same impatience on Missy's face when she looked at her. The Doctor had sent her a message, saying that he would meet her at Missy's house at noon. Clara felt not only impatient, but also tired. She had barely slept in this strange house without the comforting presence of the Doctor by her side but now, as the early afternoon started creeping up on them, it seemed that he was letting her down.  
“The Doctor has never been known for his punctuality,” Missy rolled her eyes, “He will show up. Eventually.”

As if on cue the living room door burst open and the Doctor stepped inside. The door fell shut behind him as Clara watched him rub his right wrist.  
“Why, didn't my butler offer to escort you?” Missy asked innocently, “How rude of him.”  
“He did,” the Doctor growled in reply, “And I'm sure he'll be conscious again in a while.”  
“Doctor!” Clara exclaimed in horror. She had seen him when he had gotten protective of her before, but never as furious as this. The Doctor seemed to be fuming with rage.  
What startled her even more was when he suddenly drew a gun out from behind his back and pointed it straight at Missy.  
“Doctor! What's gotten into you?!” she asked him, almost yelling, “I talked to Missy and we made a deal. You and I, we will lead the organisation. She doesn't want the key! Put down the gun!”  
Even though the Doctor kept glaring at her he still lowered his gun.  
“Well, that's not a very nice way to say hello to an old friend, is it?” Missy asked but flinched immediately when the Doctor yelled at her to shut up before he turned his attention towards Clara.  
“We will not lead the organisation. I'm not gonna do it and you're not gonna do it either,” he said determinedly and suddenly Clara felt a little afraid of him. She had never seen him so angry before. But it wasn't his decision to make. Her father had given the key to her, not him.  
“We will do it together,” Clara argued, “And in exchange Missy is going to tell me who murdered my parents.”  
The Doctor shot around to face Missy again. “Tell her the truth,” he demanded, “ _Tell her!_ ”  
Clara wasn't sure what was happening but she watched as Missy shrugged and sighed. “I did it.”  
The words hung in the air for a long time before another sound was to be heard and yet Clara couldn't quite grasp their meaning.  
“You did what?” she asked and the sound of her own voice suddenly seemed foreign to her. It was so small that she hardly recognized it.  
“I killed your parents,” Missy said matter-of-factly, as if she was confessing to dropping a plate and breaking it, “It was me.”  
“Doctor,” Clara said quietly, “Give me your gun.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments!!! Now, let's see if anyone dies :D

“Clara, don't,” the Doctor reminded her gently, “You don't want to do this.”  
“Oh yes, I want to do this. I really want to do this,” she replied and tried to reach for the gun in his hand but he pulled it away from her. The Doctor saw so many emotions in her eyes, grief, anger, rage. She was starting to cry and he vowed to keep her from doing anything she would later regret. He would take care of her no matter what.  
“She killed them!” Clara began to yell at him, “You promised to help me find their killers! You promised!”  
Clara reached for the gun again but the Doctor stepped back. “I did, but I never said I'd let you kill them!”  
Suddenly Missy started giggling in the background.  
“See, this is why I wanted _you_ to be head of the organisation, Doctor,” Missy laughed, “You have a gentle heart.”  
The Doctor now understood all too well why Missy had wanted him to lead. She had thought he still cared about her enough to leave her unharmed. Unfortunately she had misjudged him, a realisation that was so obvious in her eyes once he pointed the gun back at her. For Clara he would do anything.  
“You would kill me?” she asked him, a mocking undertone still in her voice, “To save her soul?”  
“Yes,” he growled and then it all happened too quickly for him to do anything about it. It only took Clara a moment, a single moment in which he wasn't paying attention to her, to grab the gun from his hands and a second later she had it pointed it Missy. Her hands were shaking and the Doctor had little doubt she would pull the trigger at the slightest provocation.  
“Why?” Clara demanded to know, “Why did you do it?”  
Missy sighed and stared down at her own two hands. She took a moment to inspect her fingernails, something the Doctor had seen her do before when she pretended not to care about something and wanted to waste time.  
“Your mother's death was a distraction. I don't even remember what for but while your father was busy grieving he looked away long enough for me to get my job done,” Missy explained in a bored voice.  
“And my father?!”  
“Found out something he wasn't supposed to.”  
Clara held the gun a little higher, still trembling. The Doctor saw tears of rage run over her cheeks.  
“What did he find out?” Clara asked.  
Missy chuckled. “Honey, if I told you I'd have to kill you.”  
“Yeah, well, you're not the one holding the gun right now, so spill it!”  
Now the Doctor intervened. “He found out that Missy controls Harold Saxon and that she dictates his political guidelines,” he explained and when Clara turned around to look at him her face was full of doubt and questions. “Please,” he urged her, “Give me the gun. Let Kate deal with Missy and I promise you she will not get away without punishment.”

For a moment the Doctor was so sure Clara would listen to him but eventually she turned back around to face Missy, the gun still pointed at her. “Kate wouldn't help us. Not after what I've done. I can't let her get away.”  
“Kate _is_ helping us,” the Doctor stepped forward, positioning himself right between Clara and Missy. He stared down at Clara who appeared even smaller than before as she looked at him through her big, sad eyes. “Kate will take the key and she will take over the organisation. She will know what to do with Missy. But I cannot let you become a murderer. Not for someone like Missy. I don't care that I acted behind her back, I don't care that you will hate me but I will not let this happen, not to you.”  
Clara inhaled sharply and closed her eyes for a moment. She was listening to him, she was considering his words. There was hope.  
“Please, Clara, give me the gun. Forget your revenge. Let's turn our backs on all of this and never look back,” he begged her and prayed that she would heed his words. 

The silence that spread over the room was unbearable and the Doctor had half a mind to tear the gun out of her hand.  
“I want to have a normal life, far away from all of this and I want that life with you, Clara. That's never going to happen if you kill her. Please,” the Doctor pleaded, “Please, drop the gun. Tell me you want the same thing.”  
Suddenly Clara's shoulders sank and she turned the gun around in her hand and handed it back to him in defeat. He couldn't help but step forward and throw his arms around her in relief.  
“Well, there's a surprise,” Missy complained in annoyance behind them and only now the Doctor remembered her presence.  
Once he had let go of Clara he lifted the gun and fired a shot into the ceiling. “The MI5 will be in here any second,” he announced and dropped the gun into the farthest corner of the room, out of reach for everyone else. When a group of armed men stormed the room, followed by Kate, Clara closed her arms around his chest to stand as close to him as possible while Missy was put in handcuffs in front of their eyes.  
“We'll take her from here,” Kate told him sternly, “And now I believe you have something that belongs to me.”  
“This is Missy we're talking about,” the Doctor warned her, “She will do anything humanly possible not to be imprisoned for very long.”  
“We'll have to get triple locks then,” Kate held out her hand, “The key, please.”  
“Give her the key,” the Doctor told Clara gently and after a moment of hesitation she reached under her clothing and pulled the key out, handing it to Kate without looking at her.

Clara had stopped crying when he led her back outside to where he had parked his car. He wasn't sure whether she really wanted to know but nevertheless he explained to her how Missy had recently bought shares in the arms industry, how her father had tried to prevent Harold Saxon from becoming prime minister before his death and how the Doctor had figured it all out with Kate's help, who would now be running her father's organisation as best as she could.  
“Trust me, she will do a better job than we could ever have,” the Doctor promised her, “She knows what's best for this country.”  
“She shot you,” Clara argued weakly and the Doctor realized that she still seemed in shock over everything that had happened. She needed to rest and so did he. They had to go home.  
“Yes, she shot me. Cause that was the only way she could get the key. She did it to protect what she loves and I would have done exactly the same thing for you without hesitation,” he told her and still Clara only stared blankly at him. He had just told her that he loved her and yet Clara didn't even seem to have realized it.  
“Why did Missy want us to take over? Why you?”  
“Because Missy likes playing cat and mouse and she felt safe that I would never hurt her because of our past,” the Doctor shrugged, looking grim and feeling just a little sad, “She was wrong. I would have killed her in there had you asked it of me.”  
He would have. For Clara he would do anything.  
“I'm glad you didn't,” Clara sighed and suddenly her arms were back around his chest, hugging him tightly.  
When he closed his arms around her in return there was only one question left unanswered on his mind. “Will you go away with me? Just you and me?” the Doctor asked.  
“I don't know,” she replied hesitantly, “I just wanna go home now.”  
Clara shifted in his embrace until she looked up at him. “Will you take me home? To my grandma?”  
“Yes, I will,” he said before he bent down and left a long, soft kiss on her forehead.


	28. Epilogue

**2 Years Later**

 

When the Doctor opened his eyes the bed next to him was empty and he shielded his eyes against the blinding light to have a look around the room. He found her standing on the balcony, wearing his shirt. Always his shirt.  
“What are you doing out there?” he grumbled sleepily, “Come back to bed.”  
Clara giggled and jumped back into the hotel room before she landed next to him and the Doctor watched as she placed the camera on the bedside table.  
“I just took a picture of the most beautiful sunrise,” Clara said excitedly as she snuggled back against his chest with a sigh, “Do we really have to leave tomorrow?”  
The Doctor closed his arms around her as well. “I suspect your pupils are going to miss you if you don't show up for class on Monday morning.”  
“They're pupils, they get excited when their teacher doesn't show up,” she argued.  
“Okay, good point.”  
“I do love France though,” she said, smiling at him, “Promise me we'll make the best out of our last day here.”  
Suddenly her hand slipped between his naked thighs, her touch tickling his skin and rousing parts of his body that had been asleep until now.  
The Doctor moaned as he let his head fall back into his pillows. “I believe you're aiming for another noise complaint.”  
Clara shrugged. “It's our last day.”  
He chuckled and grabbed Clara by the hips to pull her on top of him. He soon found that she was completely naked under his shirt, a realisation that sent his mind racing at once. The Doctor loved everything about Clara, from the sound of her voice, the way she laughed, how good it felt to sink inside her. He had never loved a woman so very much in his entire life. It had taken them a while after everything that had happened but slowly she had opened his heart to him that he had thought for a long time was made of steel. Eventually she had let him into her life and the Doctor knew that there was very little that could separate them now. The sweet child he had driven to school had somehow turned into a headstrong brat, and he had no idea how he had done it, but Clara had once again changed, this time into a strong, lovable woman.  
“Are you happy?” the Doctor felt the need to ask.  
“Very,” she grinned at him, “I love you.”  
“I love you, too,” he said, his hands tangling in the shirt she was wearing, “Now, Mrs Smith, I believe that shirt is one of mine.”  
Clara giggled once more. “Mrs Smith at last. This time with real passports.”  
“Not a good enough reason to steal my clothes,” he argued playfully.   
Clara frowned at him. “Well, take them off me then.”

She squealed when the Doctor flipped them both over and pinned Clara into the sheets. When he kissed her he thought that they might get another noise complaint after all, but did that really matter on the last day of their honeymoon?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short epilogue but I believe it's the one they both deserve after everything they've been through. Thank you all soooooo much for reading this fanfic and for leaving a comment! And now I am going to quietly step back for a while. I started my new job which leaves me with a lot less time to write, so for the near future I think I am going to stick to oneshots and shorter fics. Unless, of course, a new idea presents itself, but even then I won't be able to update daily like I have done these past few months. Thank you so very much for reading my things and your support! I really, truly appreciate it!


End file.
